By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — When Carter Wiebusch saw teammate Jaxson Washington level the Timberline quarterback at the goal line, and watched the pass flutter harmlessly into the air, the Coeur d’Alene senior linebacker had just one thing on his mind.

“End zone,” Wiebusch said.

Wiebusch’s 15-yard interception return for a touchdown was Coeur d’Alene’s third TD in the first eight minutes, and the Vikings went on to crush the Wolves of Boise 56-7 in the quarterfinals of the state 5A playoffs Friday night at Viking Field.

Coeur d’Alene (8-0) dominated Timberline (3-4) on both sides of the ball from the start, and advanced to play at Rocky Mountain (7-0) of Meridian next Friday in the semifinals. Rocky defeated visiting Highland of Pocatello 29-13 on Friday night.

Coeur d’Alene scored on five of its first six possessions and raced to a 42-0 halftime lead. The Vikings totaled 310 yards of offense in the first half, 474 for the game.

“Man, they flat fly to the ball, don’t they?” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said of his defense. “They play with great energy. We just have guys that play with great energy on that side of the ball.”

Coeur d’Alene’s defense was just as impressive. Timberline had minus 11 yards of offense in the first quarter, minus 30 yards for the half, and finished with 77 total yards.

The Wolves had a hard time holding onto the snap of center early, much less making it back to the line of scrimmage.

“Our defense definitely went after it,” Wiebusch said. “Cameren Cope, I don’t know how many sacks he got. We were all partying in the backfield.”

Timberline running back Taylor Marcum, who ran for 226 yards and four touchdowns last week in a first-round win at Skyview despite a cast on his left arm, carried just three times for minus 2 yards vs. the Vikings, before sitting out the second half.

Cope, a junior had three sacks, and also caught six passes for 77 yards.

The Vikings featured the run early, and gashed the Wolves early. Junior Gunner Giulio broke a 61-yard TD run midway through the first quarter for a 14-0, and Trent Elstad sped 27 yards late in the quarter to make it 28-0.

“We just broke a couple at the beginning of the game,” Elstad said. “Big, big runs. That was awesome.”

Elstad and Giulio also scored TDs on screen passes from Jack Prka, who was 16 of 20 for 185 yards and four touchdowns in roughly two quarters of play.

“I don’t know if I’ve handed the ball off that many consecutive times before,” Prka said. “I know they’re happy about it.”

And that was without starting left tackle Seth Hagel, who sat out while recovering from a concussion.

“So guys had to step up,” Amos said. “Brayden Booth (starting defensive end) stepped in at left tackle, Carter Wiebusch, linebacker, played (offensive) line. To have guys step up and fill that void is a plus.”

Timberline 0 0 0 7 — 7

Coeur d’Alene 28 14 7 7 — 56

First quarter

Cd’A — Ethan Garitone 6 pass from Jack Prka (Eli Jolly kick), 8:21

Cd’A — Gunner Giulio 61 run (Jolly kick), 6:03

Cd’A — Carter Wiebusch 15 interception return (Jolly kick), 4:09

Cd’A — Trent Elstad 27 run (Jolly kick), 2:00

Second quarter

Cd’A — Elstad 24 pass from Prka (Jolly kick), 7:10

Cd’A — Alex Karns 5 pass from Prka (Jolly kick), 6:02

Third quarter

Cd’A — Giulio 6 pass from Prka (Jolly kick), 7:12

Fourth quarter

Cd’A — James Elliott 82 pass from Brayden Bengtson (Jolly kick), 8:24

TL — Garrett Lavin 24 pass from Wade Zenner (Colton Anson kick), 1:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — TL, Spielman 6-(minus 27), Marcum 3-(minus 2), Zenner 10-(minus 8), Rand 8-20, Bridges 1-1, Satterfield 1-5. Cd’A, Elstad 8-81, Giulio 5-89, Mallory 2-(minus 7), Langley 1-0, Bengtson 2-(minus 11), Prka 2-(minus 2).

PASSING — TL, Spielman 4-16-1-32, Zenner 5-17-0-78. Cd’A, Prka 16-20-1-185, Bengtson 7-12-0-139.

RECEIVING — TL, Bridges 2-24, Lavin 3-45, Alvarado 2-19, Zenner 1-4, Rand 1-18. Cd’A, McLaughlin 1-4, Garitone 3-37, Karns 3-40, Cope 6-77, Wuolle 1-4, Elliott 1-82, Giulio 2-15, Elstad 1-24, Griffin 1-15, Pottenger 1-4, D’Agostino 2-21, Mallory 1-1, Short 1-2.