The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Sept. 5, 2012

It doesn't happen too often in high school football, but when it does, that odd feeling walking out of a stadium after a tie is difficult to shake off.

That's exactly the feeling that many had as they left Lake City High after the Timberwolves played Kennewick (Wash.) to a 27-27 tie on Friday night.

IN THE time that I've covered high school sports - as well as watched on the sidelines - I've seen this happen twice, Friday and in 1995, my junior year of high school when Wallace and arch rival Kellogg played to a 20-20 tie at Teeters Field in Kellogg.

Last Friday's game had everything from Kennewick jumping out to a big lead in the first half, Lake City rallying to take the lead in the second half and eventually tying the game on a field goal late.

The only thing missing was one team winning and the other losing.

Had Lake City played for the win and failed to convert, the T-Wolves would be 0-2 going into their bye week this week.

Playing for a tie - which was the first time Lake City coach Van Troxel had done so in his 34-year coaching career - might have seemed odd, but this is high school football, and a 30-yard field goal isn't exactly a chip shot, either.

Late in the fourth quarter, a missed extra point by Kennewick kept the game within a field goal, so not every kick is as easy as it looks.

SINCE THE Miners and Wildcats played to their tie, a lot has changed with both programs.

Back in 1995, the teams played twice a year, at the beginning and end of the season at each other's home field.

That night, with a chance to win late in the game, instead of kicking a field goal, Wallace attempted a final pass, which fell incomplete.

They've since put the series on hold after Wallace dropped to the 1A Division 1 level and Kellogg, a 3A school, has remained in the Intermountain League.

Kellogg’s coach at the time — Shawn Amos — has won the last two state 5A championships after taking over at Coeur d’Alene High in 1997.

With those teams playing to a tie and since they’re a little closer (10 miles) than Kennewick is to Coeur d’Alene (170 miles) — chances are that bad taste in those fans in the Silver Valley is probably a lot more bitter than those of Lake City fans.

In a nonconference game between teams that have a long distance between them, there’s not a ton of bragging rights in the days after the game.

Had it been a rivalry game such as Wallace and Kellogg, chances are fans might have stuck around long enough to make sure a winner was determined.

The feeling was odd leaving Kellogg after watching the teams play to a tie.

Friday it almost was fitting it concluded that way, because after almost three hours, it might have been the only way it could have ended.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].