THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT, November 13, 2013

Football is a funny game.

One minute, you can think you've seen everything and the next, you find yourself wondering just how that could have happened.

LAST SEASON, when I watched Lakeland High sophomore Cade Coffey kick a game-winning 45-yard field goal to beat Post Falls, I really thought that was the most impressive kick I might ever see at a high school game.

That was until last Friday.

Coffey attempted and made a 57-yard field goal right before the half of Lakeland's 34-23 loss to the Skyview Hawks in a state 4A playoff game at Corbit Field in Rathdrum.

"Cade has the leg to do those sorts of things," Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. "We've seen it at practice, but we hadn't given him an opportunity to do that in a game."

The state record, 47 yards, was set by Ryan Bloxham of Burley High in 1990. Unfortunately for Coffey, records can only be set in state title games.

With the cold weather and slick field from rain during the week in the Rathdrum area, it still seemed like a risky move to me.

"I'm glad we gave him the chance to do that," Kiefer said. "He stepped up and hit it."

Coffey is also the goalie on the school's soccer team which finished third in the recent state 4A tournament at Brothers Park in Caldwell.

Kiefer added that he didn't see the ball go between the uprights.

"The team was supposed to go down and cover the kick," Kiefer said. "They were all standing around watching the ball and I didn't see it go through because I was yelling at them to cover the kick. I almost had an aneurysm just trying to get them down there. But it was shocking for sure."

FOR ALL that those in the national media talked about how good the Seattle Seahawks were going to be this year, adding Percy Harvin along with a few other free agent pieces, had you told me they'd be 9-1 with a chance to go 10-1 before a bye week, I'd probably tell you that you were crazy.

And that's before they lost both starting offensive tackles and Harvin, who has yet to play a single play of football for the team this year.

But here they are, staring that in the face this Sunday.

To some, the NFC is Seattle's conference to lose, with four of the final six games at home in Seattle. Should they be able to beat New Orleans and San Francisco in a few weeks, chances are they won't have to leave the northwest unless they qualify for the Super Bowl.

There's still a ton of football left to be played between now and February.

But listening to all those expectations still will have me laughing all the way to the finish line.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.