Any team that loses a state championship game walks off the field with a certain level of disappointment.

The Coeur d’Alene Vikings, who had run roughshod over most of their opponents the last two years, hoped to send a skilled and deep senior class out with a resounding victory in the state 5A football title game.

That’s why Friday’s 14-8 loss to Highland of Pocatello at Holt Arena in Pocatello was a tough one to take for the Vikings — even after players and coaches credited a tremendous defensive effort by the Rams, who lived off their defense this year, particularly in the postseason.

“We tell our kids, when the pain goes away, you’ll feel pride,” said Coeur d’Alene High coach Shawn Amos, who has been the Vikings coach since 1997. “It’s just, the pain won’t go away for a while. When they look back at how they carried themselves this season, what they did and what they accomplished, they’ll be proud of themselves.”

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Coeur d’Alene senior quarterback Colson Yankoff said. “The season didn’t end the way I pictured it. A lot of that falls on me. But I could not be prouder of my teammates, and my coaches. This has been the best year of my life. I owe it all to them.”

Yankoff, the University of Washington commit who had a decorated high school career as the triggerman for the high-powered Coeur d’Alene offense the past two seasons, said the pain will continue to linger.

Asked how long the pain from this loss is going to hurt, Cole Ramseyer, the Vikings’ Boise State-bound tight end, answered, “forever.”

IT’S NOT easy to dominate a game from the defensive tackle position, but Highland’s Tommy Togiai certainly had that kind of impact. The 6-3, 300-pound man-child with offers from many major colleges was part of the pressure the Rams put on Yankoff. He “introduced” himself to a few Vikings with big hits, sacked Yankoff at the end of the first half, and tackled him after a short gain on Coeur d’Alene’s last-gasp fourth-and-26 play.

After seeing him in person, Amos said Togiai was “as good as he looked on film. When he wants to, he’s pretty unstoppable. That’s one of the best kids in the country.”

“They stuffed our run,” Ramseyer said. “That Togiai up front, he caused a lot of problems.”

FOR SOME reason, Holt Arena has not been kind to the Vikings in state title games of late. Coeur d’Alene beat Meridian for the 1985 title at the former Minidome but has lost there in its last three championship game appearances, losing in the state title game in 2004 (to Twin Falls), 2012 (to Madison) and Friday (to Highland).

Coeur d’Alene won at Twin Falls in the 1982 state title game, beat Centennial at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow in 2010, downed Eagle at Bronco Stadium the following year, and rallied past Highland in the 2013 title game at the Kibbie Dome.

Coeur d’Alene will return to Holt Arena next fall to play Highland in a regular-season game, as Amos and Rams coach Gino Mariani recently agreed to a two-year home-and-home series. Highland will visit Coeur d’Alene in 2019.

The teams met six times in a four-year span from 2012-15, including a couple of playoff matchups.

It probably doesn’t make the Vikings feel better to remind them they beat Highland at Holt twice during that span, in the 2012 semifinals and in a 2015 regular-season game.

Maybe it will later, after the pain goes away. If it ever does.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.