Prep football kicks off tonight

In their first game as the reigning state 5A football champions, the Coeur d'Alene Vikings open the season tonight with their longest road trip of the season.

Coeur d'Alene travels to Rocky Mountain High of Meridian, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT.

Coeur d'Alene beat Rocky Mountain 34-22 last year in Coeur d'Alene. The teams nearly met again in the state title game, but Rocky Mountain lost to Centennial 35-33 in the state semifinals. Coeur d'Alene (11-1 last year) is ranked No. 1 by Idaho media in this week's preseason poll; Rocky Mountain (9-2 in 2010) is ranked in a tie for fifth with Highland of Pocatello.

Rocky Mountain, in its fourth year as a school, lost a couple of key standouts from last year (quarterback Levi Altringer, who is at Linfield College, and receiver Dallas Burroughs, who is at Boise State) to graduation.

Closer to home, Lakeland travels to Lake City and Post Falls plays host to Lewiston. Both kick off at 7.

4A Lakeland, which went 2-7 last year, returns quarterback Eric Cooper.

Lake City quarterback Bobby Traverse started four games in relief of the injured Mark Smyly. The 5A Timberwolves finished 6-4 last year, losing to Coeur d’Alene in the first round of the state 5A playoffs.

In a quirk of scheduling, Post Falls and Lewiston square off for the second straight game. The teams met in the season finale last year, with Post Falls romping 39-14 at home to finish off a 7-2 season. Both teams will have new quarterbacks, with sophomore Joe Pfennigs taking over for Post Falls. Lewiston was 5-4 last year.

Also tonight at 7, St. Maries opens at home vs. the Coeur d’Alene junior varsity.

In a pair of season and North Star League openers, Kootenai plays host to league favorite Wallace, and Lakeside travels to Clark Fork. Both kick off at 7.

Wallace is coming off an appearance in the state 1A Division I semifinals. Kootenai advanced to the first round of the 1A Division II playoffs.

On Saturday, Timberlake opens vs. Libby (Mont.). Timberlake lost all of last year’s nonleague games, including a 26-22 setback at Libby in the opener, but won the Intermountain League with a 4-0 record and advanced to the first round of the state 3A playoffs.

Libby finished 5-5 last year, losing to Stevensville in the first round of the state class A playoffs.

Schedule

All 7 p.m. except where noted

Tonight

Coeur d'Alene at Rocky Mountain, 6 p.m. PDT

Lakeland at Lake City

Lewiston at Post Falls

Coeur d'Alene JV at St. Maries

Wallace at Kootenai

Lakeside at Clark Fork

Saturday

Libby (Mont.) at Timberlake