PREP FOOTBALL ADVANCE: A lot to be sorted out in final week of prep slate
MARK NELKE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 3 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. | October 23, 2014 9:00 PM
Friday's Games
All 7 p.m.
Coeur d'Alene at Post Falls
Lake City at Lewiston
Lakeland at Moscow
Bonners Ferry at Timberlake
Orofino at St. Maries
Mullan at Kootenai
Deary at Lakeside
It's simple for the Post Falls High football team - the Trojans need to win Friday night at home vs. Coeur d'Alene in the 5A Inland Empire League and regular season finale for both teams.
Yes, with the state 5A playoffs expanding to 12 teams this year, the third-place team from the 5A IEL is in the mix for a wild-card berth.
Teams' records vs. other 5A teams in Idaho, as well as vs. teams in the highest classification in other states, are used to determine the wild-card team.
But Post Falls (4-4, 1-1 5A IEL) is just 1-3 vs. such teams - a win over Lewiston, and losses to Lake City and Washington 4A schools University and Moses Lake.
Of the other teams in contention for the wild-card berth - the No. 4 teams in the Southern Idaho Conference West A and West B pods, and the No. 4 team from eastern Idaho - all have or will finish with better records than Post Falls.
Coeur d'Alene (6-2, 1-1) nabs the North's No. 2 seed to the playoffs with a win.
But the Vikings could still receive the wild-card berth with a loss, based on its record vs. Idaho 5A and Washington 4A teams.
Friday's winner will travel to play the No. 2 team from the West B pod next week in the first round of the playoffs. That team will be the loser of Friday's game between Eagle (8-0) and Mountain View (6-2).
Lake City (7-1, 1-1) at Lewiston (1-7, 1-1): Lake City wrapped up the North's top seed with last week's victory at Coeur d'Alene. The Timberwolves will get a bye next week in the first round, then play host to a quarterfinal game in two weeks. Their opponent will be the winner of a game next week between the West A pod No. 2 team and the East No. 3 team.
Lakeland (6-2, 1-0 4A Inland Empire League) at Moscow (2-6, 0-1): A win by Lakeland would wrap up the league title, and a first-round bye in the state 4A playoffs for the Hawks, who would host a quarterfinal game in two weeks.
It would also mean Sandpoint (4-4, 1-1) wraps up the second playoff berth from the North, and the Bulldogs would host a first-round game next week.
Bonners Ferry (1-6, 0-2 Intermountain League) at Timberlake (6-1, 2-0): Timberlake can wrap up another undefeated run through the IML with a victory, and would host the No. 4 team from the Snake River Valley Conference next week in the play-in round of the state 3A playoffs.
The winner of Friday's Kellogg-Priest River game will also make it into the play-in round next week, and will host the third-place team from the SRV.
Orofino (6-1, 1-0 Central Idaho League) at St. Maries (5-2, 0-1): Orofino can wrap up the CIL title with a victory; a St. Maries win would mean a three-way tie for the title. All three CIL teams advance to the state 2A play-in round next week; the No. 1 seed would host, and the No. 2 and 3 seeds would travel.
Mullan (1-5, 0-5 White Star League) at Kootenai (0-7, 0-6): It's the season finale for Kootenai, whose string of eight straight trips to the state 1A Division II playoffs will come to an end.
Deary (5-2, 5-0 WSL) at Lakeside (4-4, 4-2): Lakeside, in fourth place in the eight-team league, still has a mathematical chance at one of the two playoff berths from the league.
Lakeside would have to beat Deary, have Kendrick beat Timberline and Deary the next two weeks, and have Timberline lose to Clark Fork next week to make the playoffs in two weeks.
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“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).”
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“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.”