THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE, November 14, 2013
"High school football is played with emotion and intensity," a high school football coach told me many, many years ago.
He didn't say anything about talent.
Coeur d'Alene High certainly has the talent. It's the emotion and intensity that will be the X-factor Friday night, when the Vikings (7-3) play host to Capital (9-1) of Boise in the semifinals of the state 5A football playoffs.
As in, how does Coeur d'Alene respond, in its biggest game of the year to date, without its leader, senior and two-year starting quarterback Gunnar Amos, who suffered a broken ankle in last week's first-round victory over Timberline of Boise?
Amos, who has several colleges interested in him, threw for 2,284 yards and 19 touchdowns in the nine games he played in.
His replacement, sophomore Austin Lee, has thrown six touchdown passes in just over seven quarters in place of Amos, who missed the second half of the Lake City game with a concussion, and sat out the following week vs. Post Falls.
"We talk about it all the time, we're not a one-guy program," Coeur d'Alene coach Shawn Amos said. "We have a lot of really good football players that work really hard, and they deserve a shot, and they're going to get a shot."
MEANING, THE Vikings have several other people capable of stepping up and making big plays.
There's the usual suspects. On offense, tight end Chase Blakley has been Lee's go-to receiver of late, a talented one. Jonny Plum and Addison Johnson can score from anywhere.
Coeur d'Alene hasn't had to run much, but each of the three members of the Vikings' three-headed backfield - Gibson Green, Ty Holgate and Drew Berger - has been effective at times this season. Coeur d'Alene isn't known as a physical team, but the Vikings have dominated the line of scrimmage at times, the Lake City game standing out in particular.
On defense, linebackers Graham Thompson and Drew Berger are the Vikings' top tacklers. But a look at last week's notes from the Timberline game showed many others also making plays - Matt James, Jackson Carlson, Phoenix Duncan, Elliott Sparks, just to name a few.
THE EMOTION last Friday night, when Gunnar Amos was hurt in the second quarter, and afterward, when players, coaches and others came up to hug Shawn Amos, definitely made an impression.
The Viking coach was obviously choked up afterward. In the last month, he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and his son has suffered a concussion and a broken ankle.
What else does the Amos family - and by extension, the Viking family - have to endure this fall?
With that as a backdrop, don't be surprised if a little extra emotion and intensity helps the Vikings make up for the loss of their leader.
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.