If there was a program built to withstand a long road through the playoffs, it would be the Coeur d'Alene High football program.

The Vikings are used to being in the playoffs, having reached the state title game each of the last four years - and the state semifinals the year before that.

And the Vikings are used to traveling, having bused to various cities in Oregon, western Washington, eastern Idaho and southern Idaho in recent years.

And they just got back from a trip to Meridian, where they beat Meridian High 55-33 last week in the first round of the playoffs.

The latest bus trip for Coeur d'Alene (7-3) takes the Vikings back to Meridian to play Rocky Mountain (7-2) tonight at 6 p.m. PST in the state 5A quarterfinals.

"We're used to traveling," Coeur d'Alene coach Shawn Amos said. "We're looking at it as an advantage - instead of being in English class, they're looking at game film, and looking at scouting reports."

He added the English teacher might not agree with that reasoning, but you get the drift.

If Coeur d'Alene wins tonight, the Vikings would travel to face the winner of Eagle (9-1) at Highland (9-0) of Pocatello next week in the semifinals. If Coeur d'Alene were to reach the state title game, unless it was a Coeur d'Alene-Lake City matchup, it would be played in either Boise or Pocatello. A Cd'A-LC game would be at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

"If we don't win, you won't hear us whining," Amos said of being on the road for the playoffs. "This is the path we're on. I don't think our kids are fazed by it; at this time you're just happy to be playing in November, and want to keep playing."

Rocky Mountain won Pod A in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference to earn a first-round bye to the expanded 12-team state playoffs. The Grizzlies' only losses have been to Lake City and Eagle.

Jake Roper of Rocky ran for 261 yards and four touchdowns two weeks ago in a 54-36 win over Capital, and Devyn Christian ran for 112 yards and two TDs on 14 carries.

"I would say we're the underdog," Amos said. "Rocky is a No. 1 seed, playing at home ... no one's feeling sorry for Coeur d'Alene. They run the ball very well, so we have to be able to slow down their running game."

Capital (8-2) at Lake City (8-1): The Eagles, from Boise, are the No. 2 seed from Pod A of the 5A SIC, behind Rocky Mountain. Capital's only two losses have come to Eagle and Rocky.

Last week, Capital beat Skyline of Idaho Falls 45-28 in the first round of the playoffs. Quarterback Conner Poulson rushed for 122 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries, and completed 14 of 22 passes for 177 yards and one TD for Capital against Skyline.

After Lake City won at Lewiston two weeks ago tonight, Lake City coach Van Troxel traveled to the Boise valley the next day and scouted the Capital-Rocky game. Lake City had a bye last week.

Capital lost at Coeur d'Alene 42-14 last year in the state semifinals.

The Capital-Lake City winner travels to play at the Madison (6-3)-Mountain View (7-2) winner next week in the state semifinals.

Rigby (5-4) at Lakeland (7-2): Of Rigby's four losses, three were to 5A schools, and the other was 35-13 to Blackfoot, ranked No. 1 in 4A.

Rigby beat Kuna 35-7 last week in its playoff opener.

"They look like they're good-sized; physical," Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. "We're smaller than anybody we play, so we're used to it."

Lakeland had a first-round bye in the 12-team playoffs after winning the 4A Inland Empire League. The Hawks are in the playoffs for the second straight season, and third in four years.

"We don't have a lot of experience with byes," said Kiefer, whose team usually doesn't open during Zero Week, instead starting its season the next week and playing straight through to the end.

Kiefer said he likes the expanded playoffs, because it gives his league a second berth, where "in years past that wouldn't have happened."

Lakeland has won four straight games after suffering back-to-back losses to Cheney and Post Falls in the middle of the season.

Fruitland (7-2) at Timberlake (8-1): Gee, here's a surprise - Timberlake and Fruitland meeting up in the state playoffs.

The teams will meet Saturday for the third time in the last four years in the playoffs, and the seventh time in the playoffs since 2004.

Fruitland's only two losses are to Middleton, which is in the state 4A playoffs, and Emmett, which dropped down from 4A this year.

Fruitland has beaten Timberlake in their last five playoff meetings, including 35-21 in the quarterfinals last year.

Former assistant Ryan Tracy is in his second year as head coach at Fruitland, and it looks like he didn't change much.

"They're as good as always," Timberlake coach Roy Albertson said of Fruitland. "They're still a wing-T team; we've got to be able to move the ball on them. I thought last year we did a really good job of that, we just had some costly turnovers down in their end in the first half."

Timberlake is in the playoffs for the 12th straight year. The Tigers' lone loss was a 71-21 pasting by Lakeland.

"We've been very happy with the way we played this year," Albertson said.

St. Maries (6-3) at Orofino (8-1): After St. Maries beat New Plymouth 36-28 last week in its state 2A playoff opener, Lumberjacks coach Craig Tefft knew it was the program's first playoff victory in a long time.

Just how long?

He got a congratulatory text from a former coach and current administrator, who has been in St. Maries for a quarter century, and couldn't remember a football playoff victory during his time here.

Turns out, it was St. Maries' first playoff victory since 1987.

"So it's been pretty darn exciting," Tefft said. "It's nice to see all the hours put in ... to finally get there."

Tefft said his players have done a good job putting that win behind them, and focusing on this Saturday's quarterfinal game at Orofino. Two weeks ago, the Maniacs escaped with a 15-14 victory at St. Maries in a game in which the Lumberjacks committed six turnovers.

Orofino, by winning the Central Idaho League, earned the right to host Saturday's game.

"We expect it to be another hard-fought game," Tefft said. "Our kids were pretty disappointed after the Grangeville game (a 56-8 loss). We made mistakes and it snowballed. It was a turning point in our season; because we hadn't had a lot of adversity."

Last week, St. Maries fell behind New Plymouth by two touchdowns, before rallying for the victory.

St. Maries' six wins are the most in a season since 1998, when the Lumberjacks went 7-3 under Terence "Blue" Anderson.

Prep football

State playoffs

Tonight's Games

Coeur d'Alene at Rocky Mountain, 6 p.m.

Capital at Lake City, 7 p.m.

Saturday's Games

Rigby at Lakeland, 1 p.m.

Fruitland at Timberlake, 1 p.m.

St. Maries at Orofino, 1 p.m.