THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE, November 7, 2013

When word got out that Coeur d'Alene High football coach Shawn Amos was diagnosed with a form of Hodgkin's lymphoma, one of the first people to call him offering support was Van Troxel.

Yes, the coach of rival Lake City High. The coach who lost his own father, legendary coach Ed Troxel, to cancer in 2001.

"It wasn't a surprise. It was, of course, appreciated," said Amos of the phone call, noting how tight-knit the coaching fraternity is, no matter the competition.

"Like I tell everybody, Van and I have been competing at a very intense level for 17 years, and we still like each other," Amos said. "I've always respected him; I've stolen a lot of ideas from him."

Since Amos took over at Coeur d'Alene in 1997, Lake City dominated the early years of the rivalry. Coeur d'Alene has taken over of late, winning the last six games, including one two weeks ago that meant the Vikings advanced to the playoffs and the Timberwolves stayed home.

"That actually adds a stress to it," Amos said of the rivalry. "When you don't win for a while, it puts some pressure on you, and the fact Van and I have a positive relationship shows a mutual respect."

So much for that "rivalry" angle.

"We are two proud and good programs," Amos said. "I've told people to sit back and be thankful you have two really good football programs in this town."

Amos' Viking team plays host to Timberline of Boise on Friday in the first round of the state 5A playoffs. His second round of chemotherapy treatments is expected to be sometime next week.

WHEN LAKELAND was in the 3A division, the Hawks dominated, especially in football, with big linemen and a power running game.

That probably would have worked pretty well in 4A, but a strange thing happened in Rathdrum - across the board, the kids got smaller.

Tim Kiefer came over from Timberlake to take over the Lakeland program following the resignation of his father, Terry, as Hawks' coach in 2003. Tim coached Lakeland for one year in 3A, then the Hawks moved up to 4A the following year.

"It was obvious to us that we needed to change and do things differently," Kiefer said of the move to 4A. We needed to get faster; we needed to increase our team speed. We had faster kids at Timberlake than at Lakeland across the board then."

Kiefer said Timberlake, where he was before, has bigger players than Lakeland these days.

But the Hawks have increased their team speed over the years, allowing them to compete with the bigger teams in 4A.

Success took a few years after Lakeland moved up. The Hawks made the 4A playoffs for the first time in 2007, advancing to the semifinals. Lakeland is back in the playoffs this year, for the second time in three years.

"Certainly it was the cycle of kids," Kiefer said. "We have a group of kids that like to fly around and play football."

Lakeland plays host to Skyview of Nampa on Friday in the playoff opener.

THAT NAME again: Those of us who have been around here a while remember a Post Falls High standout who graduated in 1997 named Austin Lee, who later went on to play at Stanford and spent time on the developmental squad of the San Francisco 49ers.

So imagine the double-take when the backup quarterback for Coeur d'Alene entered the game a couple of weeks ago, in the fourth quarter vs. Lake City.

Kid by the name of Austin Lee.

No relation to the other Austin Lee.

Jerry Lee, father of the older Austin Lee, and coach at Post Falls when his son played there, went to Post Falls' game at Coeur d'Alene last week. That was when the younger Austin Lee, the heir apparent at QB next year, started for Gunnar Amos, who was sidelined with a concussion.

"It was pretty strange to see Austin Lee in Coeur d'Alene colors," Jerry said. "In fact, I told Austin about it, and he was pretty blown away."

Jerry's daughter, Megan, works at Canfield Middle School, where the younger Austin Lee attended, and she told her dad about it.

As for the older Austin Lee - the Post Falls version - he is now director of academic services for athletics at Stanford.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.