COEUR d'ALENE - After arriving back to Viking Stadium for their homecoming football game on Friday night, the Coeur d'Alene Vikings were in unfamiliar territory for the second time in less than a week.

Trailing early in the first quarter.

Quarterback Neil Jewell threw for 225 yards and ran for 93 as the third-ranked Highland Rams of Pocatello defeated the second-ranked Coeur d'Alene Vikings 45-26 in a nonleague football game - matching two of the top teams in the state 5A classification.

Coeur d'Alene (3-2) drove the field early, but had an interception turn the momentum back to Highland (3-1) as Thomas Ryan juggled the ball for an interception at the 50-yard line. Highland capitalized again later in the quarter on another turnover, this time on a deflection into the hands of Danny Rasmussen as the Rams built a 21-0 lead.

"We can't play like that against the caliber of teams we're playing," Coeur d'Alene coach Shawn Amos said. "You can't give them an extra chance. They're too good to do that against."

Coeur d'Alene got on the board on an 83-yard TD pass from Gunnar Amos to Chase Blakley to cut the deficit to 21-6 after the first quarter.

"I think what we're doing is we're playing hard, but we're not playing well," Amos said. "When you play good football teams - which Highland is - you've got to play with effort.

And we’re not playing very good football right now.”

Coeur d’Alene lost to Skyline High of Sammamish (Wash.) last Saturday 71-20 in the Idaho Football Classic at the Kibbie Dome to snap a 24-game win streak. The Vikings will have a bye week next week, then open 5A Inland Empire League play at Post Falls on Oct. 5.

“We scheduled a gauntlet, and that’s OK,” Amos said. “But now it’s what we do from here. We’re still 0-0 in league and everything we want to do this season is still out in front of us. But we have to get better at what we’re doing.”

Marques Mort scored on a 34-yard touchdown run for Coeur d’Alene in the third quarter, but left the game with a neck injury suffered returning a kickoff with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter.

“We don’t know about him quite yet,” Amos said of Mort. “He’s got the feeling back in his legs. We don’t know what kind of injury it is for sure, but it looks better.”

Amos finished the game with 298 yards passing for Coeur d’Alene.

“They’re a good football team,” Highland coach Gino Mariani said. “They play hard and fast and have six or seven guys that go both ways. It’s tough, but it’s a bear.”

“We knew what we were up against coming in here,” said Mariani, whose team plays its home games on the artificial turf of Holt Arena. “It was good for us to get up on them early. We still practice outside on the grass, so playing on the grass doesn’t seem to bother our guys too much.”

Highland 21 14 7 3 — 45

Coeur d’Alene 6 0 7 13 — 26

High — Thad Hansen 7 run (Dallan Rodriguez kick)

High — Hansen 7 run (Rodriguez kick)

High — Michael Beseris 5 run (Rodriguez kick)

Cd’A — Chase Blakely 83 pass from Gunnar Amos (kick failed)

High — Hansen 3 run (Rodriguez kick)

High — Tanner Tingey 30 pass from Neil Jewell (Rodriguez kick)

Cd’A — Marques Mort 34 run (Parker Wilson kick)

High — Tingey 18 pass from Jewell (Rodriguez kick)

Cd’A — Reece Mahaffy 21 run (pass failed)

Cd’A — Mahaffy 3 run (Wilson kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — High, Jewell 17-93, Beseris 17-44, Hansen 7-33, Atkinson 3-13. Cd’A, Amos 10-20, Mort 5-49, Mahaffy 4-30.

PASSING — High, Jewell 20-33-0-225, Hansen, 0-1-0-0. Cd’A, Amos, 20-41-2-298.

RECEIVING — High, Tingey 7-108, Beseris 2-15, Haber 1-9, Shreve 2-13, Atkinson 2-23, Hansen 2-33, Page 1-4, T. Jewell 1-5, Thomson 1-6, Hansen 1-10. Cd’A, Mort 1-18, Carlson 1-10, Blakely 8-134, Doering 2-18, Johnson 4-42, Mahaffy 4-62.