THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE Aug. 28, 2013
Somewhere inside today's newspaper is The Press' annual fall sports preview of local high school football, volleyball, soccer, cross country and swimming teams, as well as North Idaho College volleyball and soccer teams.
On the eve of the high school football season starting, here's five questions concerning local teams and/or sports:
1. Is it a lock that Coeur d'Alene will win the state 5A football title?
With most of their key players back - including two that have already verbally committed to the University of Washington - the Vikings will be heavily favored. How they deal with everybody tripping over themselves trying to proclaim them champs already will be key.
Could they get tripped up along the way? Sure, especially with regular season games vs. Skyline of Sammamish, Wash., and Highland of Pocatello (the latter of which could be the first of a home-and-(sort of)-home series this year, and perhaps even Bothell (Wash.) next weekend in the Emerald City Kickoff Classic at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
But none of those games affect their postseason hopes. The question within the question is, can Lake City, with all its professed speed, knock the Vikings out of the playoffs? If not, Coeur d'Alene could be looking at a rematch with Highland in the championship game, which this year would be at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.
And if that's the case, we're likely looking at three state titles in four years for the Viks.
2. Should they start chiseling the name "Lewiston" into this year's state 5A championship trophy?
As Lee Corso of ESPN likes to say, "Not so fast, my friend."
I don't think I've ever seen a team like Lewiston, which returns everybody from last year's team that won the Bengals' first state title. They didn't even have a senior on last year's roster.
Unless the Bengals implode, they should be able to win it again. But volleyball's a funny momentum game. Things can go badly as easily as they can go well. Coeur d'Alene, Lake City and Post Falls will battle Lewiston in the 5A Inland Empire League. I saw Lake City hand Lewiston its lone league loss last year, so it's doable, and there should be some fun battles in league before regionals and state rolls around.
3. Could Timberlake break through to a state title game in football?
When the Tigers were their strongest in the mid-2000s, it was often Fruitland that knocked them off in the playoffs. Last year, when Timberlake reached the semifinals for the first time since 2007, it was Fruitland that bused into Spirit Lake and denied the Tigers their first trip to the state title game.
Fruitland has a new coach, and lost some pretty good players from last year, so maybe there's an opening for Timberlake this year. And, if I'm reading the IHSAA bracket correctly, if the teams meet again in the semis, the Tigers would play host to Fruitland for the second straight year.
4. Can North Idaho repeat its success from last year's state 5A high school boys and girls soccer tournaments?
5A soccer has pretty much been the Boise Schools Invitational in the past decade, aside from Coeur d'Alene's girls breaking through in 2006.
Last year, Post Falls' boys dominated like so many Boise schools have done of late, barging to their first state title. And Lake City and Post Falls made it an all-North Idaho girls final, with Lake City winning.
Both girls teams return much of their firepower from last year, so a title game rematch wouldn't be out of the question. The Post Falls boys lost a good chunk of last year's title game. But the Trojans return the state player of the year in Timmy Mueller, as well as a handful of other key guys, and threat could be enough to get them back in the state title hunt.
5. With its fourth coach in five seasons, can the North Idaho College volleyball team again find a way back to the NJCAA tournament?
Coaches change at NIC, but one thing remains the same - trips to nationals. The Cardinals have made it back there three straight years, and six out of nine years since their first trip to nationals in 2004.
That's no easy feat, considering they are battling two other NJCAA powers in Salt Lake and defending national champion Southern Idaho just to get back to nationals.
So don't be surprised if NIC finds a way again.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached by phone at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.