Coeur d'Alene topples Lake City

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d’ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene Vikings knew they had depth at quarterback. 

The Vikings are finding out about their depth at other positions as well. 

Coeur d’Alene, which lost two starters to injury last week, lost two more on Friday night, but controlled the tempo with its offense in a 33-12 victory over the Lake City Timberwolves in the 6A Inland Empire League opener for both teams at Van Troxel Field. 

“What a gutsy performance by our guys,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “We’re already down guys, and we get two late hits on our guys, both of them out of the game. We had guys stepping up and playing way more minutes than they have every played, and they found a way.” 

Coeur d’Alene (4-3) lost Gibson Comstock (ankle injury) and Maddox Lindquist (concussion), both junior receiver/safeties, in the first quarter. 

Comstock did plenty of damage before he departed, getting wide open in the end zone to catch a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tannar Stern on the game’s first drive, then taking a screen pass from Stern and zipping 22 yards for another score. 

Stern, a junior, took over at quarterback for senior Caden Symons, who suffered a broken collarbone in last week’s loss at Camas (Wash.), and is out for the season.  

Stern, who had played some at quarterback this season, but also played at running back and linebacker, finished 16 for 23 for 229 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 81 yards on 17 carries on the field where his father, Matt, starred at quarterback for Lake City more than two decades ago. 

“We’re very blessed,” Amos said of having a second QB like Stern. “Still heartbreaking for (Caden). Honestly, a lot of our offense was wrapped around both of those guys together, so we lost a big chunk of our offense. There wasn’t a lot of adding, there was more subtracting. But (Tannar) did what we thought he would do, and we had faith in him the whole time.” 

Senior Ty Paulin ran around right end for 13 yards and a 19-0 Coeur d’Alene lead at halftime. Paulin finished with 63 yards on 12 carries. 

Junior Jackson Hackett, who finished with four catches for 100 yards, took a screen pass and ran down the sideline for a 23-yard score to make it 26-0 early in the third quarter. 

Lake City (1-6) then came to life offensively. 

Junior quarterback Britton Johnston hit Preston Beamesderfer for 42 yards, then junior Brayden Van Leuven, who finished with 58 yards on 12 carries, scored on a 22 yard run. 

Lake City got the ball back after Stern lost a fumble, and Johnston found tight end Ryan Salsbury in the end zone on an 8-yard scoring pass to make it 26-12. 

But Coeur d’Alene answered with a 12-play scoring drive, converting two fourth downs along the way. The first was an 18-yard completion from Stern to senior Daniel Shoup on fourth and 8 at the Lake City 36.  

Then on fourth and goal from the 5, Shoup took a pass from Stern in the right flat and dove just inside the pylon for the score. 

“Guys fought hard, never quit,” Lake City coach Byron Hout said. “Proud of them for fighting to the end. 

“We’ve just got to play with better eyes on defense, and be able to get off the field and get the ball back for our offense.” 

Coeur d’Alene controlled the pace of the game, running 60 plays to 37 for Lake City. The Vikings outgained the Timberwolves 415-159 in total yards. 

“We’re 1-0 in league, and that’s all that matters,” Amos said. 

Coeur d’Alene can clinch the league title next Friday at home vs. Post Falls.

“They’ve got a lot of good players,” Hout said of Coeur d’Alene. “They can distribute the ball around on offense, and they play a suffocating defense. They can play a lot of different coverages, and take away some of the things you’re trying to do on offense.” The tempo was a little bit different this game than what they’d shown on film.” 

Lake City plays host to Lewiston on Friday, then visits Post Falls on Oct. 23 in the regular season finale.

Coeur d’Alene     12    7    7    7    —    33 

Lake City    0    0    12    0    —    12 

First quarter 

Cd’A — Gibson Comstock 22 pass from Tannar Stern (run failed), 6:12 

Cd’A — Comstock 22 pass from Stern (pass failed), 2:40 

Second quarter 

Cd’A — Ty Paulin 13 run (Frankie Lopez kick), :55 

Third quarter 

Cd’A — Jackson Hackett 23 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 8:55 

LC — Brayden Van Leuven 22 run (kick blocked), 5:48 

LC — Ryan Salsbury 8 pass from Britton Johnston (PAT failed), :06 

Fourth quarter 

Cd’A — Daniel Shoup 5 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 4:00. 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — Cd’A, Stern 17-81, Paulin 12-63, Palmgren 8-42. LC, Van Leuven 12-58, Johnston 6-9, Team 1-(minus 10). 

PASSING — Cd’A, Stern 16-23-0-229. LC, Johnston 7-17-0-86, Hill 1-1-0-16. 

RECEIVING — Cd’A, Hackett 4-100, Shoup 4-47, Comstock 3-47, Dahlin 2-13, McClelland 1-12, Paulin 1-4, Colburn 1-6. LC, Hill 5-40, Van Leuven 2-20, Beamesderfer 1-42. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Lake City senior receiver Jacob Hill (18) fights for yardage upfield as senior Ian Dahlin (24) and junior Andrew Petree (25) defend on Friday night at Lake City.