Lake City returns to the state playoffs on the very same field in which it played its last playoff game, five seasons ago.

The Timberwolves, the third-place team in the 5A Inland Empire League travel to Mountain View of Meridian on Friday in the first round of the state 5A playoffs. The Mavericks, the third seed from the 5A Southern Idaho Conference, were state champions in 2016, and reached the state semifinals the past two years.

It’s Lake City’s first trip to the playoffs since 2014, when the Timberwolves advanced to the state semifinals before falling 28-14 in the snow at Mountain View.

5A IEL runner-up Post Falls, back in the playoffs for the second straight year, plays host to Timberline of Boise on Friday. Post Falls won at home in the first round last year, the Trojans’ first playoff win since joining 5A in 2006.

Timberline’s biggest win was a 23-22 win at Eagle, which finished fourth in the 5A SIC. The Wolves lost by two to Borah, which finished second in league.

St. Maries, the second-place finisher in the Central Idaho League, plays host to New Plymouth on Friday in the first round of the state 2A playoffs. The Pilgrims finished in a three-way tie for third in the 2A Western Idaho Conference.

Lakeside travels to Clark Fork tonight in a rescheduled North Star League game. If Lakeside wins, the Knights will face Mullan-St. Regis in a Kansas tiebreaker Monday at Kootenai High for the league’s lone berth to the state playoffs. If Clark Fork wins, Mullan-St. Regis advances to the playoffs.

Coeur d’Alene drew a first-round bye by winning the 5A IEL, and will play host to the Lake City-Mountain View winner in the quarterfinals next Friday.

Timberlake earned a first-round bye by winning the Intermountain League, and will return to action next weekend in the 3A quarterfinals — wherever their Idaho RPI number tells the Tigers where to go.

As for the picks, Mark went 4-2 in the prep picks, while Jason was 5-1.

On college games, both picked Oregon and lost on Eastern Washington.

For the season, Jason is 38-13 on prep picks, Mark is 36-15. On the collegiates, Mark is 18-12 and Jason is 22-8. For the season, Jason is 60-21 and Mark is 54-27.

HIGH SCHOOL

Lakeside (5-1, 2-1 North Star League) at Clark Fork (2-3, 0-3)

Wednesday, 6 p.m.

NELKE: Needing to keep its playoff hopes alive ...

Lakeside, 26-22

ELLIOTT: It’s fitting that if Lakeside wins tonight, the Kansas tiebreaker between Lakeside and Mullan-St. Regis will be played at Kootenai High for the first game on that field this year.

Lakeside, 36-30

Lake City (4-5) at Mountain View (7-2)

Friday, 6 p.m.

NELKE: Wouldn’t a Lake City-Coeur d’Alene rematch in the quarterfinals next week be interesting? Mountain View may have other ideas.

Mountain View, 35-24

ELLIOTT: Lake City looked pretty impressive on offense in the second half of last week’s game against Lewiston.

Mountain View, 38-35

Timberline (5-4) at Post Falls (6-3)

Friday, 7 p.m.

NELKE: After giving up 55 unanswered points to Coeur d’Alene in a 55-14 loss last week, the Trojans need to find a way to bounce back.

Post Falls, 36-35

ELLIOTT: Post Falls fixes its issues and gets a big win this week. Maybe Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene are on a collison course down the road.

Post Falls, 34-28

New Plymouth (4-4) at St. Maries (5-3)

Friday, 6 p.m.

NELKE: New Plymouth has alternated wins and losses all season. The Pilgrims won last week.

St. Maries, 32-20

ELLIOTT: St. Maries has been rather successful in the opening round of the playoffs in recent years.

St. Maries, 28-20

COLLEGE

Cal Poly (2-6, 1-4 Big Sky) at Idaho (3-5, 1-3)

Saturday, 2 p.m.

NELKE: Idaho’s at home this week, so who cares who’s healthy and who’s not able to play (as long as Jeff Cotton is among the healthy)?

Idaho, 34-24

ELLIOTT: If Colton Richardson plays, Idaho has a shot to win this game. If he doesn’t ...

Idaho, 35-31

Boise State (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) at San Jose State (4-4, 1-3)

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

NELKE: After having an extra week to stew over their loss at BYU, the Broncos take it out on the Spartans.

BSU, 35-17

ELLIOTT: San Jose State has wins over Arkansas and Army. Boise State has one over Florida State that might be a bigger deal.

BSU, 38-20

Northern Arizona (4-4, 2-2 Big Sky) at Eastern Washington (3-5, 2-2)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

NELKE: Eastern is 3-0 at home, which maybe gives it an edge it what looks like a fairly even matchup.

EWU, 38-34

ELLIOTT: Eastern is a different animal when it plays in Cheney.

EWU, 41-31