COEUR d’ALENE — If nothing else, the one thing that Coeur d’Alene has been able to hang its its hat on was a strength in numbers.

Depth in playmakers.

Depth in all areas.

When the Vikings needed it most, that depth at cornerback paid off big time.

Coeur d’Alene safety Colbey Nosworthy intercepted a Ryan Blair pass with 6:28 remaining, returning it 47 yards for a touchdown as the Vikings held off the Mead Panthers 42-28 in a nonleague football game at Viking Field on Friday.

“Our kids really perservered in that game because our cornerbacks were dropping like flies,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “We had to play a kid (Devon Johnson) that just started playing 12 days ago, and he had to play a lot of minutes. I’m proud of those guys for stepping up and finding a way, because that’s a good football team. Devon’s a highly athletic kid and has been in these kinds of situations before. He’s played before, and we were lucky to have him.”

Both corners who started the season opener vs. Rigby were injured in last week’s loss at Gonzaga Prep and didn’t play Friday night. And other corners had to leave the game at times after cramping up.

Coeur d’Alene senior wide receiver Jake Brown had six catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns, both from 58 yards out for Coeur d’Alene (2-1).

“Our offensive line did a great job tonight,” Brown said. “They gave Jack (Prka) plenty of time to get us the ball. I’m really glad we came together in the fourth and pulled it out.”

Prka, a junior, threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns for Coeur d’Alene.

“We’ve got a lot of good playmakers,” Amos said. “The good thing is we don’t have to go to one guy all the time. We can spread the ball around, and seriously, we had guys that were dropping like flies. We’re going to have to fix that, and have to do a little extra conditioning.”

Mead junior tailback Caleb Shawen scored on an 18-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers a 21-14 lead early in the third. Coeur d’Alene responded on a Brennan Crawford 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game again at 21 with 6:59 remaining in the third. Brown scored the first of his two touchdowns 57 seconds later following a turnover by Mead.

“We’re pretty similar in our personnel,” Amos said. “They’ve got a lot of good athletes, their quarterback is really creative and you’ve got to keep an eye on him. He extends plays and they’ve got a lot of good players.”

Evan Wiersma tied the game at 28-28 for Mead with 9:55 remaining on a 24-yard touchdown reception.

Coeur d’Alene took the lead for good on a 23-yard touchdown pass as Ty Pottenger ran away from the coverage to score with 7:15 remaining.

“It happens to all of us,” Amos said. “Somebody blew a coverage — thank god — and he came open. We were really thankful that he made that play.”

Coeur d’Alene has won the previous three matchups between the schools, outscoring the Panthers 166-108.

“That’s the best we’ve played Coeur d’Alene in the four years we’ve been playing them,” Mead coach Benji Sonnichsen said. “Obviously, they do a lot of things as a program that offer a challenge. I’m proud of our guys. I think we had a chance to be right there at the end, but let it slip away.”

Shawen finished with 163 yards rushing for Mead, which faces Lewis and Clark on Thursday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. Mead opened the season on Sept. 6 with a 42-21 win over Post Falls at Whitworth University in Spokane.

“We could have defended better, and our rush defense was really good,” Sonnichsen said. “But we got beat on a couple of plays. It’s a great game. They’re really good. They do things with their formations that present a lot of challenges. These two teams (Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls) are super well coached.”

Mead 0 14 7 7 — 28

Coeur d’Alene 7 7 14 14 — 42

First quarter

Cd’A — Gunner Giulio 1 run (Eli Jolly kick), 8:26

Second quarter

Mead — Hunter Marler 2 run (Eli Eldridge kick), 5:46

Cd’A — Jake Brown 58 pass from Jack Prka (Jolly kick), 4:06

Mead — Caleb Shawen 3 run (Eldridge kick), 7.9

Third quarter

Mead — Shawen 18 run (Eldridge kick), 10:39

Cd’A — Brennan Crawford 1 run (Jolly kick), 6:59

Cd’A — Brown 58 pass from Prka (Jolly kick), 6:02

Fourth quarter

Mead — Evan Wiersma 24 pass from Ryan Blair (Eldridge kick), 9:55

Cd’A — Ty Pottenger 23 pass from Prka (Jolly kick), 7:15

Cd’A — Colbey Nosworthy 47 interception return (Jolly kick), 6:28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Mead, Shawen 24-163, Marler 3-9, Voigtlaender 4-5, Blair 6-12, Abghari 1-4. Cd’A, Elstad 10-15, Brown 2-11, Giulio 2-2, Prka 7-12, Crawford 4-14.

PASSING — Mead, Blair, 15-25-1-171. Cd’A, Prka 23-32-2-405.

RECEIVING — Mead, Shawen 5-18, Abghari 2-29, Wiersma 5-50, Blackler 2-64, Gardner 1-6. Cd’A, Pottenger 4-43, Brown, 6-204, Giulio 3-59, Crawford 4-53, Schueller 1-2, Elstad 2-19, Nosworthy 2-24, Sanders 1-0.