THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Good start, but the work still to go

At the start of the fall sports season, every coach has a renewed optimism about their respective team.

Then the games start.

Not that those same feelings have gone away, they just might be a little more clear than those dog days of August.

JUST A few weeks ago, there were some unknowns around the Lakeland High football team.

That tends to happen when the coach — Mike Schroeder — is in his first year and just four games into the season.

Schroeder’s key, at least then, was simple.

“Get off to a good start.”

Well, the Hawks have, with wins over Preston in a neutral site game at Montana Tech in Butte, Mont., as well as another road win over Lake City before pummeling Columbia of Nampa at home on Sept. 1.

Lakeland won at West Valley on Thursday, moving to 4-0 on the season.

“We need to be more physical and prepared than our opponents,” Schroeder said. “And the boys are working hard in the weight room to make that happen.”

It is the first time since 2001 that Lakeland has started 4-0, when the Hawks took an 11-0 record into the state 3A championship game before losing to Snake River at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

On 2001 Lakeland roster were Cort Milks and Dustin Frank, now on the coaching staff at Lakeland.

So if anyone knows what these players need to do to win again in Lakeland, all they’ve got to do is listen to a coach or two.

WHEN IT comes to competing for Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, it’s not just on the field where you’re expected to shine.

Sometimes, the learning comes to the field as well.

The Coeur d’Alene Charter girls had 27 players turn out for the program this fall. As some teams in the Intermountain League struggle to find room for varsity teams, the Panthers have enough to field a JV, if and when they can find games.

“I really like that we’ve got a lot of teaching to do this year,” Coeur d’Alene Charter coach Stacy Smith said. “We have some players that play club ball, and others that have just played parks and rec. We ask each of them to set a goal specific to them and what they want to see by the end of the season. Some of the juniors and seniors have specific goals, and hopefully we can achieve them.”

IT IS hard to believe that the first district tournaments are under three weeks away, when golf teams take to the course, but that’s fall sports in the northern part of the state.

Start hot, and be prepared for anything come October.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.