It has been twelve years since Sandpoint won its last State Football Championship. Just a few weeks ago, both the girls and the boys soccer teams won state championships, and Sandpoint High School has an incredible tradition of state championships in a myriad of sports for both boys and girls teams.

Sandpoint was up against highly touted Blackfoot. Blackfoot is a community, roughly half again larger than Sandpoint. It is in the farming community between Pocatello and Twin Falls in southern Idaho. They are an ethnically diverse community, and their boys were big, really big.

We were an unlikely challenger, being fourth seeded, but our defense has played strong all year, and our offense stepped up to defeat all comers.

In the first quarter Sandpoint elected to receive the opening kickoff and promptly marched down the field to come within three yards of scoring. Unfortunately we fumbled with Blackfoot recovering. We scored first, then Blackfoot tied. We garnered a safety, but then, the gigantic men of Blackfoot took over, and it seemed they put the game away.

Sandpoint came back in the second half to score twice, making the margin less than a touchdown at 23-29. With less than a few minutes of play left our boys methodically rallied down the field, and it looked like we would pull off an upset win despite the outstanding play by their opponents.

After crossing midfield, the drive stalled, and with no time left to make another attempt, Sandpoint conceded defeat to their opponents.

Still, both teams can be very proud. What an outstanding game. While four or five sections was filled with rabid, screaming Sandpoint fans, students, and parents, Blackfoot only filled one of the Kibbie Dome's sections. Indeed, the noise and enthusism of the Sandpoint Bulldog fans was tantamount to having another player on the field. The indoor stadium was balmy warm, around 70 degrees. Please, someone remind me to bring sun tan lotion next time.

The drive to Moscow coupled with the game time and the drive back totalled over ten hours, but boy, it was worth it.

How great to see our town come together in such numbers, by some estimates over 1,200. What great fun, and how nice to see the community support our wonderful teenage men, playing in a game of a lifetime.

Great Job Sandpoint!

Go Bulldogs!!!

The Kibbie Dome was a balmy 70 degrees for the State Championship - Sandpoint vs. Blackfoot

Our Bulldogs played hard