Trojans, Hawks set for Prairie battle
MARK NELKE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 4 months AGO
Mark Nelke covers high school and North Idaho College sports, University of Idaho football and other local/regional sports as a writer, photographer, paginator and editor at the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has been at The Press since 1998 and sports editor since 2002. Before that, Mark was the one-man sports staff for 16 years at the Bonner County Daily Bee in Sandpoint. Earlier, he was sports editor for student newspapers at Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University. Mark enjoys the NCAA men's basketball tournament and wiener dogs — and not necessarily in that order. | September 23, 2011 9:00 PM
It's a lighter-than-normal slate in high school football this week, with three of the eight local teams having byes.
Only one game is scheduled in Kootenai County tonight - Lakeland at Post Falls in the Battle of the Prairie.
Coeur d'Alene (4-0) at Sandpoint (1-2): Coeur d'Alene, ranked No. 1 in 5A in Idaho, is coming off a 55-6 trouncing of a highly regarded team in Whitney of Rocklin, Calif., last Saturday at the Kibbie Dome. In a slight quirk of scheduling, tonight's game is only the second Friday night game the Vikings have played this season - their last three games were played on Saturdays.
4A Sandpoint has played three class 2A teams in Washington, beating Clarkston, and losing to East Valley and West Valley.
Lakeland (3-1) at Post Falls (3-1): Lakeland's three wins so far this season are the Hawks’ most in a season since 2007, when Lakeland made it as far as the state 4A semifinals. Post Falls has beaten Lakeland the last three years in the Battle of the Prairie.
St. Maries (0-4) at Orofino (1-3): St. Maries lost a one-point decision to Bonners Ferry last week in the Intermountain League opener. Orofino’s lone win was a 48-13 triumph at Kellogg two weeks ago.
Kootenai (1-3, 1-2 North Star League) at Clark Fork (1-2, 1-2): It’s the first meeting of the year for two of the teams fighting for the league’s one berth to the state 1A Division II playoffs. Both have beaten Mullan, the other 1A Division II team in the NSL, with Clark Fork winning 48-18, and Kootenai winning 86-40.
Lake City, Timberlake and Lakeside are idle this week. Next Friday, Lake City opens 5A Inland Empire League play at Post Falls, Timberlake opens Intermountain League play at Priest River, and Lakeside plays host to Clark Fork.
Standings
5A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Coeur d’Alene 0 0 4 0
Post Falls 0 0 3 1
Lake City 0 0 2 2
Lewiston 0 0 2 2
Friday’s Games
Coeur d’Alene at Sandpoint
Lakeland at Post Falls
Lewiston at Hermiston
Lake City is idle
4A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Lakeland 0 0 3 1
Moscow 0 0 2 1
Sandpoint 0 0 1 2
Friday’s Games
Lakeland at Post Falls
Coeur d’Alene at Sandpoint
Priest River at Moscow
INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Bonners Ferry 1 0 1 3
Timberlake 0 0 2 2
Priest River 0 0 0 3
Kellogg 0 0 0 3
St. Maries 0 1 0 4
Friday’s Games
St. Maries at Orofino
Freeman at Kellogg
Bonners Ferry at Medical Lake
Priest River at Moscow
Timberlake is idle
NORTH STAR LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Wallace 3 0 3 0
Lakeside 3 1 3 1
Clark Fork 1 2 1 2
Kootenai 1 2 1 3
Mullan 0 3 0 3
Friday’s Games
Kootenai at Clark Fork
Wallace JV at Mullan
Lakeside is idle
Prep football
Tonight's Games
All 7 p.m.
Coeur d'Alene at Sandpoint
Lakeland at Post Falls
St. Maries at Orofino
Kootenai at Clark Fork
MORE IMPORTED STORIES
ARTICLES BY MARK NELKE
PREP FOOTBALL: Post Falls runs past Sandpoint
Sandpoint (2-1) hosts Davis High of Yakima on Friday.
Big Sky Football Kickoff: Plenty of new faces will need to step up for Vandals
“I’ve been very impressed by Zach’s natural ability to rush the passer,” Eck said. “And he’s worked hard on his body, he’s up to about 222 pounds now, and I really think he can be a difference maker for us. He’s still doing some things with the linebackers, but I think his speed can give some offensive linemen problems (as an edge rusher).”
THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Journey to a title in Bonners — with a brief stop in Cd’A
“The whole process has been completely amazing,” said Nathan Williams, now in his fourth season as the Badgers boys basketball coach. “And the parents … it’s an hour and a half to Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, when we’d play an AAU game, and an hour and a half back, and there were so many times there was 6, 8 inches of snow. And we’ve got a game at 8 a.m. They’d always schedule us at 8 a.m., coming from Bonners. So we’re waking up at 5 … it was crazy. But the commitment from the parents and the kids has been amazing.”