'I'm busy, but I love it' — Stern helps Coeur d'Alene roll past Sunnyside

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d’ALENE — As if opposing teams didn’t have to worry enough about where Coeur d’Alene junior Tannar Stern was on offense — a quarterback, a running back, or a running quarterback ... 

Now they have to be wary of where Stern is on defense, as a linebacker/edge rusher. 

Stern deflected a pass in the first quarter that was intercepted by a teammate to set up the game’s first score, registered a strip sack later in the half and recovered the fumble himself, and created his usual havoc on offense as Coeur d’Alene rolled to a 37-13 victory over Sunnyside (Wash.) on Friday night at Viking Field. 

"That’s pretty fun; I get pretty excited about that,” Stern said of rushing the passer. “I like going against the O-line; it’s like fighting a fight out there. When I’m not on offense, I try to make an impact on defense. I’m busy, but I love it, and that’s all that matters.” 

"He’s a handful,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos added. “He made some big plays for us tonight. He plays a lot of football for us.” 

Stern’s deflection in the first half — which sounded more like a thud — was snared by Viking Mateo Rhea just before it hit the ground at the Sunnyside 6. Two plays later, Ty Paulin took a screen pass from Stern and powered in from 6 yards out. 

Griffin Comstock took a “now” screen from Stern and raced down the right sideline for a 51-yard score to make it 21-6 Vikings (2-2). 

Stern and junior Dawson Riley were in on a sack of Sunnyside quarterback Julian Villanueva in the end zone late in the half for a safety and a 23-6 halftime lead. 

Coeur d’Alene rushed for 298 yards. Stern led with 98 yards on 15 carries. Priest Palmgren added 73 yards on nine carries, most of them on a statement TD drive to open the second half, which culminated with his 23-yard burst to the end zone. Caden Symons added 65 yards on five carries, including a 12-yard TD run to end the first quarter. 

"I’ll call it the O-line drive,” Amos said of the first drive of the second half — 60 yards in seven plays, six of them runs, all by Palmgren. “Our O-line did a really good job. They (the Grizzlies) run some different fronts that you don’t see a lot of, and they did a great job communicating, and protecting the quarterback, and letting us run the ball. Our O-line stepped up, and our defense played ... like they’ve been playing.” 

Ah yes, the defense. 

Almost lost in the victory was Coeur d’Alene’s usual bone-crunching defense, which limited the Grizzlies (0-2) to 266 yards of total offense and recorded six sacks, five in the first half. 

In the fourth quarter, Viking Frankie Lopez had field goals of 40 and 45 yards on successive snaps wiped out by illegal formation penalties. On the third try, from 50, Lopez was just short. 

The only drawback, Amos said, was “overcoming the 5,000 penalties we were called for. We’ve got to figure out how to not get so many penalties at home. It’s crazy.” 

At halftime, the Vikings’ 1985 state champion football team was honored. 

Coeur d’Alene has a bye next week, then plays host to Sandpoint on Sept. 26.

Sunnyside     0    6    0    7    —    13 

Coeur d’Alene     14    9    14    0    —    37 

First quarter  

Cd’A — Ty Paulin 6 pass from Tannar Stern (run failed), 6:25 

Cd’A — Caden Symons 12 run (George Mitchell pass from Symons), :00 

Second quarter  

Sun — Cody Diddens 16 pass from Julian Villanueva (pass failed), 10:01 

Cd’A — Gibson Comstock 51 pass from Stern (Frankie Lopez kick), 9:17.  

Cd’A — Safety Villanueva tackled in end zone, :39.6 

Third quarter 

Cd’A — Priest Palmgren 23 run (Lopez kick), 9:15 

Cd’A — Hudson Gray 15 pass from Symons (Lopez kick), 2:07 

Fourth quarter 

Sun — Mason Strieck 60 pass from Villanueva (Ramon Casas kick), 6:00 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — Sun, Hansen 19-71, Villanueva 18-40, Palacios 2-5. Cd’A, Stern 15-98, Palmgren 9-73, Symons 5-65, Paulin 4-39, Strait 6-17, Mitchell 1-6. 

PASSING — Sun, Villanueva 10-20-1-146, Strieck 1-1-0-4. Cd’A, Symons 7-14-1-62, Stern 3-3-0-64, Priebe 1-2-0-9. 

RECEIVING — Sun, Diddens 5-62, Strieck 3-71, Ramos 2-17, Hansen 1-0. Cd’A, Gray 2-32, Comstock 2-60, Shoup 2018, Lindquist 1-0, Paulin 1-6, Symons 1-7, McClelland 1-9, Hackett 1-3. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene senior Priest Palmgren races upfield in the second half against Sunnyside (Wash.) on Friday night at Viking Field.