Coeur d'Alene High football coach Shawn Amos and athletic director Todd Gilkey worked the phones and surfed the Internet during the past offseason, trying to fill out the Vikings' nine-game schedule for this fall.

It took a little help from the Idaho High School Activities Association, a far-away opponent keeping its word, and help from a promoter, but the Vikings got it done - with nine games against nine different opponents.

"We feel very fortunate that we don't have to play anybody twice," Gilkey said.

Lake City athletic director Jim Winger and Post Falls athletic director Craig Christensen also worked hard to fill the openings in their football schedules for this fall.

But they weren't quite as fortunate. And as a result, Post Falls and Lake City will play twice in football this year - the first game not counting in the 5A IEL standings. Both will also play Lewiston twice - once in a nonleague game.

"I don't know how many hours we spent with scenarios," Winger said. "But with the Boise schools not traveling, but offering to host us, we're not going down there. There was nothing in Montana, nothing in Spokane. The way times are, and the way budgets are, I can't justify sending a couple of buses to god knows where just to get a game. You don't want to play twice, but there's absolutely no other way around it."

COEUR d'ALENE will open its season Aug. 26 at Rocky Mountain of Meridian - after asking the IHSAA to allow a 10th game for Rocky Mountain so the Vikings could have nine games.

The Vikings were scheduled to play at Moses Lake the following weekend. But organizers of the Emerald City Kickoff Classic in Seattle asked Moses Lake if they wanted to move the game there. Coeur d'Alene didn't mind. So the Vikings and Chiefs will play at CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) Field, home of the Seahawks, on Sept. 3.

"We thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our kids to play in an NFL stadium, so we took advantage of it," Gilkey said.

The following Saturday, Skyview High of Vancouver, Wash., visits Coeur d’Alene for a return game. Last year, Skyview handed the Vikings their only loss of the season, 36-34 in Vancouver.

On Sept. 17, Coeur d’Alene plays Whitney High of Rocklin, Calif., at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow in the fourth and final game of the inaugural Idaho Football Classic.

Coeur d’Alene then plays at Sandpoint on Sept. 23, then has a bye, then plays host to Moscow on Oct. 7, then plays its three 5A IEL games — Oct. 14 vs. Lewiston, Oct. 21 vs. Post Falls and Oct. 27 vs. Lake City.

“We were lucky that team from Vancouver said they would come to Coeur d’Alene,” Gilkey said.

Idaho and Washington are entering the second year of their two-year reclassification cycles. Idaho teams have played Greater Spokane League teams in the past but last year, GSL administrators voted to have their teams just play each other during the regular season.

“If the GSL doesn’t reclassify (next year), we might have to play everybody twice,” Gilkey said.

Ditto the 5A Southern Idaho Conference, where Caldwell is dropping from 5A to 4A this fall. The remaining 10 league teams opted to play each other in a round-robin for a nine-game league and regular-season schedule.

“We’re at their mercy,” Gilkey said. “If they don’t help us, we’re in big trouble.”

LAKE CITY is scheduled to open with home games Aug. 26 vs. Lakeland and Sept. 2 vs. Post Falls, followed by a nonleague trip to Lewiston on Sept. 9.

Lake City is also in the Idaho Football Classic, playing Rio Linda from the Sacramento area on Sept. 17 at the Kibbie Dome.

Following a bye, the Timberwolves play league games vs. Post Falls (Sept. 30) and at Lewiston (Oct. 7). Lake City was able to secure a nonleague game Oct. 14 at Wenatchee of the Big Nine. The T-Wolves will visit Sandpoint the next week, followed by the regular-season finale Oct. 27 at home vs. Coeur d’Alene.

Had the Kibbie Dome game not panned out, Lake City and Coeur d’Alene likely would have played each other twice this season.

“We could have probably went to Boise, instead of playing Post Falls or Lewiston twice,” Winger said. “But that’s a significant swing of money.”

A charter bus to Boise would cost roughly $3,000, and a home game vs. Post Falls would bring in around $3,000. Given that, a second game vs. a league team makes a little more sense. Plus, hitting the road would have left Lake City with just three home games this season.

Lake City had to scramble last summer to land a game at Glacier Peak in Snohomish, Wash. However, Glacier Peak was not interested in coming to Coeur d’Alene for a return game.

Winger admits the coaches are against playing other teams twice.

“They’re adamantly against it, and I appreciate that, but considering who will play us and financially, there’s no other choice,” he said.

Lewiston’s other nonleague games, by the way, are vs. Clarkston, and at Pullman and Hermiston (Ore.)

“It’s very, very frustrating,” Winger said. “And that’s been the problem forever. The last 10 years since I’ve been the athletic director, we’ve been at (other leagues’) mercy.”

In boys basketball, scheduling was also a challenge. Though the GSL will play the 5A IEL in hoops, they can only play the first week of the season, before they begin league play.

So Lake City will play five games — one quarter of its regular season — in an 11-day span in late November and early December. The T-Wolves will play Wenatchee on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, then Gonzaga Prep, North Central and University of the GSL on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, respectively, then play Clarkston of the Great Northern League the following Tuesday.

“You take what they give you,” Winger said.

POST FALLS is scheduled to open with its two nonleague games vs. league teams — Aug. 26 vs. Lewiston and Sept. 2 at Lake City.

The Trojans were supposed to play Centennial Secondary School of Coquitlam, British Columbia, for the second straight year on Sept. 9, this time in Moses Lake, but the B.C. school backed out, and Post Falls was able to schedule a road trip to eastern Idaho to play at Madison High on that date.

Madison had to petition the state to play a 10th game so the Bobcats could play Post Falls. The bus ride to Rexburg is considerably farther than to Moses Lake for the Trojans, but playing Madison “will be a better game for us,” Christensen said.

Last year Post Falls and Centennial met in Ellensburg, Wash., with Post Falls winning easily.

Post Falls would have jumped at the chance to also play in the Idaho Football Classic at the Kibbie Dome, but already had a game at East Valley scheduled for Sept. 16, and couldn’t move it. The Trojans then play home games vs. Lakeland (Sept. 23), Lake City (in league play on Sept. 30) and Sandpoint (Oct. 7), then finish up with league road games Oct. 21 at Coeur d’Alene and Oct. 28 at Lewiston.

“It’s the worst schedule that we’ve had in my nine years here,” Christensen said. “We just couldn’t get games. We’ve never played Zero Week before. Not being able to get the Washington schools kills us. Maybe it’ll get better, but ... ”

Unless the GSL and/or the 5A Southern Idaho Conference change their way of thinking, don’t hold your breath.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com.