Northwest Notes Sept. 23, 2011

NIC opens SWAC volleyball

play this weekend in Utah

The 13th-ranked North Idaho College volleyball team (11-6) will open Scenic West Athletic Conference play tonight at seventh-ranked Salt Lake (13-4).

Salt Lake beat NIC in four games at last weekend's CSI tournament in Twin Falls.

NIC will travel to Snow College (4-8) before returning home next Saturday to face the College of Southern Idaho.

Mullan opts to forfeit three NSL football games

MULLAN - Due to a shortage of players, the Mullan High football team has opted to forfeit North Star League home games today against Wallace and a rematch against Lakeside on Oct. 14.

Mullan (0-3) is in 1A Division II; Wallace (3-0) and Lakeside (3-1) are in the larger 1A Division I. Wallace is ranked fourth in the state.

Mullan will play the Wallace JV today, and also forfeit to the Miners and play at the Wallace JV on Oct. 28. Lakeside does not have a junior varsity team.

"We're down to only nine players that are only freshmen and sophomores," Mullan principal Tom Durbin said. "We're still going to play against Kootenai and Clark Fork because they're about our size and should be fair competition."

League games at Clark Fork on Oct. 7 and at Kootenai on Oct. 21 are Mullan's lone remaining games vs. varsity teams.

Ossai to rejoin

Shock next season

Offensive lineman Ben Ossai has signed with the Spokane Shock for the 2012 Arena Football League season, joining defensive back Marquise Charles in returning from last year's team.

Ossai (6-foot-6, 320 pounds) started all 12 games he played in for Spokane before leaving to join the United Football League's Las Vegas Locomotives. Ossai was in camp with the St. Louis Rams before joining the Shock in 2010.