THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Lakeside, Wallace weighing their football options for 2026-28 cycle

It seemed like a cool little football league the last couple of years. 

Lakeside, Wallace and Clark Fork petitioning down from the 2A to 1A classification in football to join Coeur du Christ, a 1A school, in what has turned out to be an entertaining North Star League in football last year and this year. 

Clark Fork’s enrollment count for the 2024-26 classification cycle had the Wampus Cats barely in the 2A division; Lakeside and Wallace had a few more kids over the limit. 

All (except Coeur du Christ, of course) played in the 2A Scenic Idaho Conference in other sports, along with Genesis Prep, which does not offer football. 

Wallace ended up winning the league last year, advancing to the state eight-man playoffs and finishing 8-2. Lakeside was 6-2, Coeur du Christ 3-5 in its first year of football, which included a win over Lakeside. 

WHEN THIS year’s enrollment count came out, determining classifications for the 2026-28 school years, Clark Fork’s numbers had dropped to the point (74 students in grades 9-12) where the Wampus Cats will return to 1A (from 1-89 students) this fall, joining Coeur du Christ in all sports and Kootenai and Mullan in volleyball and boys and girls basketball, as far as team sports. 

Again, Lakeside and Wallace’s numbers (Lakeside is at 125.5, Wallace at 129) put them into the 2A division (90-174 students). Both schools petitioned down to 1A in football again, but this time, those petitions were denied by the Idaho High School Activities Association. 

So both will play at the 2A level in football next year. 

NEITHER WERE happy with the board’s decisions. 

“We won the superintendent vote 32–27 and the football committee vote 8–1. Then we lost the IHSAA vote 10-4,” Wallace athletic director Corey Miller said. “Why they would ask for a superintendent vote and a committee vote and then go drastically against those results is a question I’ve been trying to get an answer to, but with no luck so far. No one seems to know.” 

Part of it could be their winning records in football last fall. Wallace is off to a 6-1 start this year and Lakeside is 0-6. But, with the petitions having to be heard last month at the IHSAA board meeting, only last year’s records could be factored into this year’s arguments. 

Wallace’s “reward” for making the playoffs last year was a No. 8 seed and an 86-8 loss to eventual champion and top seed Carey in the state quarterfinals. 

In Lakeside’s case, the state’s superintendents voted against the Knights’ petition in a close vote. Lakeside appealed, but the IHSAA board voted 11-3 to deny its petition. 

“I am deeply disappointed in the recent decision made by the IHSAA board regarding classification and the overall treatment of our request,” Lakeside AD Tyler Petty said. “District 1 has not produced a state title in football in over 40 years. The evidence is clear that the current structure does not provide balanced, fair, or equitable competition for our student-athletes."

Mullan was the last North Star League school to win a state title in football, going back-to-back in 1983 and '84, when the league still played 11-man football. The league switched to eight-man shortly thereafter.

“The recent decision to split our league — with two teams placed at the 2A level and two teams at the 1A level — further compounds this problem," Petty added. “This alignment does not provide us with a fair or consistent path to the state tournament. Without a full league or qualifier, our only opportunity would be through MaxPreps rankings. This creates an unequal playing field and denies our athletes the same opportunities afforded to other districts with established automatic qualifiers.” 

IN OTHER petitioning news affecting North Idaho teams, Post Falls girls soccer successfully petitioned down to 5A from 6A for a second straight classification cycle.  

But Post Falls boys soccer, which played at the 5A level in 2024 and this season, will return to 6A in 2026. 

Post Falls girls soccer was 1-12-1 last year, 0-9-1 in the combined 6A/5A Inland Empire League. This year, the Trojan girls finished 1-11-2 overall, 0-7-1 in the 5A IEL. 

Post Falls boys soccer was 5-8-2 last year and the No. 2 seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament. This year, the Trojan boys finished 2-11-0, 1-7-0 in the 5A IEL. 

But that didn’t matter, since only last year’s win-loss records could be used in the petition, Post Falls High AD Craig Christensen said. 

“If I could have used this year ... “ Christensen said. 

That will leave the veteran AD in the position of scheduling his girls soccer team differently from his boys soccer team the next two years. 

The Post Falls girls will continue to play 6A schools Coeur d’Alene and Lake City only once, and 5A squads Lakeland, Sandpoint, Lewiston and Moscow twice. 

But the Trojan boys will have to play Coeur d’Alene and Lake City twice, and only have to play the four 5A schools once. 

But, as Christensen joked, if he can put a football schedule together each season, finding several nonleague games with teams all over the Northwest ... 

Meanwhile, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, with enrollment numbers (227.5) that would put the Panthers in the 3A classification (179-345 students), successfully petitioned up to 4A for the 2026-28 cycle.  

Really, it only affects Cd’A Charter in track and field and cross country. In the other sports the Panthers compete in (boys and girls soccer, and tennis), the 4As and 3As compete together, along with any 2A and 1A schools. 

Cd’A Charter has done this in the past, citing the 4A teams it would compete against up north in track and field and cross country (Timberlake and Bonners Ferry) are closer than the 3A schools (Kellogg, St. Maries, Priest River, Grangeville and Orofino). 

SO WHAT’S next for Lakeside and Wallace? 

The schools could play as a two-team league in football, and hope the winner receives one of the 12 playoff berths. 

Or they could play as independents, and hope their MaxPreps rankings earn them an at-large berth. 

Or, they could try the loaded Whitepine League in District II (Lewiston-Moscow area). 

“Wallace will not be joining the Whitepine League,” Miller said. “The travel does not work for our athletes, parents, or district.” 

Besides, four of the five ranked teams in 2A in this week’s statewide media poll are from the Whitepine League — including top-ranked Kendrick, which won three straight state titles in 1A, moved up in 2024 and rolled to a state 2A title last fall. (Though Kendrick’s current enrollment numbers put the Tigers back in 1A next year, if that helps). 

Either way, if Lakeside and Wallace thought competing at the state level in 1A was tough ... 

“At this time, we are working with the Scenic Idaho Conference and IHSAA on the next steps to ensure District 1 representation at the state level,” Petty said. “There is a meeting on Nov. 17 that will determine the brackets and qualifying terms. I am hopeful for a positive outcome for all of North Idaho. 

“I am wanting to wait and see how the bracket meeting turns out (before making any decision),” Petty added.

Stay tuned. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.