Victorious Vikings
<p>Coeur d'Alene High students Nic Thompson, center, celebrates alongside Viking football supporters Mike Schmidt, left, and Gibson Green during the third quarter of the 5A State Championship game Friday against Eagle at Bronco Stadium in Boise.</p>
BOISE - O-dark-thirty came mighty early Friday - almost too early for some fans of the Coeur d'Alene Vikings traveling to Boise for Friday night's state 5A football championship game between Coeur d'Alene and Eagle.
"It was treacherous," said Debi Dominguez, mother of Viking junior lineman Cameron Dominguez, of the drive from Hayden to the Spokane Airport for the early morning flight to Boise. "The wind and the rain and the snow. We didn't think we were going to make our flight."
They caught their flight, but of course, they wouldn't have let a little thing like a missed flight keep them from a game of this magnitude. But they did have a Plan B.
"We were going to drive on if we missed our flight," said Dave Dominguez, Cameron's dad.
Loads of Viking fans came down to Boise for the game, won by Coeur d'Alene 49-28. In addition to those flying and driving down, three buses of students, fans and boosters left Coeur d'Alene at 5:45 a.m.
"At a lot of away games, we have the same amount or even more fans," said Scott Bradley, father of senior lineman Dillon Bradley.
"We were not going to miss this, no matter what," said Laura Rencher, mother of senior lineman Lucas Rencher. "You can't keep Viking fans away - it's a strong bunch of parents."
Like most families, the Dominguezes said they haven't missed one of their son's games.
Even if it cost them a car.
"We hit a deer and wrecked our car two months ago coming home from Moscow - and the car's still not fixed," Debi Dominguez said. "Through wind and rain and snow, we're here."