Gridiron Guesses Sept. 25, 2026: A couple interesting road games, and some other stuff

Coeur d'Alene's last two visits to Lewiston have not gone well for the Vikings. 

In 2022, the host Bengals routed Coeur d'Alene 40-6 in a 5A Inland Empire League game at Bengal Field, and the Vikings went on to miss the playoffs for the only season since 2008. 

In 2024, Lewiston upset Coeur d'Alene 13-6 in an early season nonleague matchup, also at Bengal Field. Lewiston's new on-campus artificial turf football field, the P1FCU Sports Complex, opened later that season. 

Coeur d'Alene plays its first game on Lewiston's new field tonight, when the Vikings (5-0), ranked No. 3 in 6A by MaxPreps (behind Rocky Mountain of Meridian, and Rigby), visit the Bengals (3-2), ranked fourth in 5A, at 7 p.m. 

Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston were league rivals for years, until Lewiston dropped down a division in 2024, when the classification boundaries changed. The Bengals are in their second cycle in 5A, which runs through 2028. 

Before Lewiston won in 2022, Coeur d'Alene had beaten the Bengals in 18 of the previous 21 matchups. All three of Lewiston's wins in that stretch came on its home field. 

Closer to home, Lake City (3-2) plays host to Sandpoint (4-1) tonight at 7. 5A Sandpoint has won six of the last eight meetings with 6A Lake City. 

Post Falls (0-5) travels to East Wenatchee, Wash., tonight to face Eastmont (3-0), a team the Trojans defeated each of the past two years. 

One week after winning the Battle of the Growing Housing Developments over Post Falls, Lakeland (1-4) travels to Timberlake (2-2) in the Battle of Lakeland School District Teams. 5A Lakeland has won 15 of the last 17 over 4A Timberlake, including the last seven. 

In an intriguing 1A nonleague matchup, Coeur du Christ, ranked fifth in 1A by MaxPreps, travels to Salmon River (5-0), ranked fourth, for a Saturday afternoon tilt in Riggins. 

As for the picks, Mark Nelke went 7-0, while Jason Elliott and Josh McDonald each went 5-2.

For the season, Mark and Jason are both 27-10, Josh 25-12.

FRIDAY'S GAMES 

All at 7 p.m. 

Coeur d'Alene (5-0) at Lewiston (3-2) 

NELKE: The 6A IEL Vikings play their third 5A IEL team, all on the road. They beat Lakeland by 25 points and Sandpoint by 30. Crazy things seem to happen in Lewiston, and still could. But ... 

Coeur d'Alene, 36-14 

ELLIOTT: Coeur d'Alene has been good anywhere it goes this season. This is the time of the year the Vikings want to be great.

Coeur d'Alene, 42-20

McDONALD: I'm not sure what to make of Lewiston. But what I do know is that Coeur d'Alene is very good on both sides of the ball. 

Coeur d'Alene, 35-14

Sandpoint (4-1) at Lake City (3-2) 

NELKE: Prior to giving up 36 points to Highland last week in a head-scratcher in Butte, Mont., defense had been Lake City's strength this year. 

Sandpoint, 20-13 

ELLIOTT: Sandpoint might have a bit too much in the passing game tonight.

Sandpoint, 27-22

McDONALD: Last week felt like an anomaly — because the Timberwolves had been playing really good football up to that point. Gimme Lake City on a bounce back win after a good football game.  

Lake City, 24-18

Post Falls (0-4) at Eastmont (East Wenatchee, Wash.) (3-0) 

NELKE: Eastmont, 28-14 

ELLIOTT: Tough season getting tougher for the Trojans.

Eastmont, 34-20

McDONALD: I'm not sure things get a ton better for the Trojans.  

Eastmont, 35-21

Lakeland (1-4) at Timberlake (2-2) 

NELKE: Lakeland, 35-14 

ELLIOTT: Lakeland got back to its physical style of football last week, while Timberlake handed Kellogg a loss at Teeters Field.

Lakeland, 42-20

McDONALD: The Tigers certainly got some of their offensive moxie back last week, but going from Kellogg to Lakeland is something else entirely. After playing a brutal opening schedule, the Hawks are more than capable of winning the rest of the way.  

Lakeland, 24-16

Orofino (0-4, 0-0 Central Idaho League) at St. Maries (0-4, 0-1 CIL) 

NELKE: The Lumberjacks will celebrate more than homecoming this week. 

St. Maries, 24-12 

ELLIOTT: St. Maries, 16-12

McDONALD: The bottom half of the CIL is 0-12 and the next month is going to be a race to avoid finishing dead last (and maybe a winless season). The Lumberjacks will likely take their first step toward avoiding that outcome this week.  

St. Maries, 26-12

Grangeville (3-1, 0-0 CIL) at Kellogg (0-4, 0-1) 

NELKE: Grangeville, 42-6 

ELLIOTT: Tough season for the Wildcats gets a lot tougher.

Grangeville, 44-12

McDONALD: The Wildcats are pretty beat up and still looking for a win. Grangeville is eyeing a conference championship. At this point, getting through the game healthy, while competing would be a step in the right direction for the program. 

Grangeville, 35-12

Lakeside (1-3) at Clark Fork (1-3)  

NELKE: Clark Fork, 28-20 

ELLIOTT: Clark Fork 34-22

McDONALD: The Wampus Cats get the tight win in an old school North Star League battle. 

Clark Fork, 21-18

Troy (1-3) vs. Wallace (4-0) at Sather Field, Silverton 

NELKE: Troy beat Lapwai 42-36 two weeks ago, and had a bye last week. Before that, the Trojans lost to Prairie, Lewis County and Potlatch by a combined 144-24. 

Wallace, 60-22 

ELLIOTT: The Miners' bonfire was still burning into the early hours of the morning on Thursday in Wallace. Miners, big.

Wallace, 56-20

McDONALD: The Miners built a schedule that featured five playoff teams from a year ago. So far, only Potlatch has offered any resistance. The real question is, which receiver will benefit from Cooper Miller's arm most this week: Hank Larson or Lennox Radford?   

Wallace, 65-24

SATURDAY'S GAME 

Coeur du Christ (4-0) at Salmon River (5-0), 1 p.m. PDT  

NELKE: This might be the most entertaining game of the weekend, at the alma mater of Leighton Vander Esch.  

Salmon River, 72-68 

ELLIOTT: Since it's at Salmon River ...

Salmon River, 44-42

McDONALD: Here's your game of the week. The MaxPreps fifth ranked Saints versus the fourth-ranked Savages. Both teams coming in undefeated. Salmon River averages 54 points per game; Coeur du Christ scores 56. Whoever has the better defense is going to win a heavyweight 8-man game.  

Coeur du Christ, 35-30 

STANDINGS

6A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE 

                League      Overall  

                         W    L    W    L  

Coeur d’Alene    0    0    5    0   

Lake City         0    0    3    2   

Post Falls        0    0    0    4 

Friday’s Games 

Coeur d’Alene at Lewiston 

Sandpoint at Lake City 

Post Falls at Eastmont (East Wenatchee, Wash.) 

5A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE  

                League      Overall  

                    W    L    W    L  

Sandpoint     0    0    4    1   

Lewiston     0    0    3    2   

Lakeland    0    0    1    4  

Friday’s Games 

Lakeland at Timberlake 

Sandpoint at Lake City 

Coeur d'Alene at Lewiston 

INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE  

                   League      Overall  

                          W    L    W    L  

Bonners Ferry     0    0    3    2  

Timberlake     0    0    2    2  

Moscow        0    0    1    4 

Friday’s Games 

Timberlake at Lakeland 

Logos at Bonners Ferry 

Moscow is idle 

CENTRAL IDAHO LEAGUE  

                 League      Overall  

                      W    L    W    L  

Priest River    1    0    2    1  

Logos        2    1    4    1 

Grangeville     0    0    3    1  

Orofino         0    0    0    4  

Kellogg         0    1    0    4   

St. Maries         0    1    0    4   

Friday’s Games 

Orofino at St. Maries 

Grangeville at Kellogg 

Logos at Bonners Ferry 

Priest River at Newport 

SCENIC IDAHO CONFERENCE 

                League      Overall  

                   W    L    W    L  

Wallace        0    0    4    0  

Lakeside        0    0    1    3   

Friday’s Games 

Lakeside at Clark Fork 

Troy vs. Wallace at Sather Field, Silverton 

NORTH STAR LEAGUE  

                      League      Overall  

                        W    L    W    L  

Coeur du Christ    1    0    4    0   

Clark Fork        0    1    1    3  

Friday's Game 

Lakeside at Clark Fork 

Saturday’s Game 

Coeur du Christ at Salmon River