Football Preview: Sandpoint Bulldogs vs. Hillcrest Knights
Two dominant signal callers in Drew Lehman and Tyson Sweetwood are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Sandpoint Bulldogs will challenge the Hillcrest Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sandpoint is coming into the match on a five-game losing streak.
Sandpoint is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Lakeland two weeks ago (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Sandpoint was beaten by Lakeland 41-7. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Idaho football rankings (they are ranked 44th, while the Hawks are ranked tenth).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hillcrest). They blew past Idaho Falls 61-14 on Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
It was another big night for Sweetwood, who threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns while completing 89.5% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Jace Judy was another key player, picking up 82 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Sandpoint's loss dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Hillcrest, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Sandpoint has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 190.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Hillcrest struggles in that department as they've been averaging 213.4. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Sandpoint skirted past Hillcrest 30-27 in their previous meeting back in October of 2020. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sandpoint since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
