THE FRONT ROW with Mark Nelke Oct. 27, 2013

What in the name of defense happened around here in high school football on Friday night?

Wallace 92, Kootenai 44.

Timberlake 88, Priest River 33.

Clark Fork 79, Timberline of Weippe 30.

Will any of these winning teams score this many points come basketball season?

Those scores are so outlandish, Post Falls scoring 48 in a double-overtime win over Lewiston, to keep the Trojans' playoff hopes alive, barely elicited a shrug.

Coeur d'Alene scoring 44 in a 31-point victory over Lake City? Been there, done that.

Lakeland piling up 42 in an impressive four-touchdown win over Moscow? Let's see what you've got next week at Sandpoint.

Timberlake - a running team not exactly built for scoring quickly - set a school record for points in a game. Wallace, in a matchup of the two best teams in the North Star League, led 42-32 over Kootenai at halftime - a respectable final score for an 8-man game most nights - then pulled away to win by the 45-point mercy rule.

And, as it turned out, the 109 points scored by Clark Fork and Timberline weren't even the most scored Friday on the Lakeside High field in Plummer, where the teams collided in a "meet you halfway" game.

On any other day, Mullan scoring in the closing seconds to beat host Lakeside 56-54 later that night might have been the headline grabber.

But not on this night.

WE THOUGHT the streak was over two years ago, after Lake City lost big at home to eventual state champion Coeur d'Alene.

But the following night, Post Falls, with a chance to nab the second 5A playoff berth from the north with a win at Lewiston, lost. A Kansas tiebreaker ensued a few days later, and Lake City won to make the playoffs.

Now, Lake City needs to win Thursday at home vs. Lewiston, and hope Post Falls wins at Coeur d'Alene that night. If not, Lake City's impressive streak of 16 straight trips to the state playoffs will come to an end.

The streak started in 1997, Lake City's fourth season of football, on a muddy field at Barlow Stadium, in a 32-12 loss at eventual state 4A champion Sandpoint. It has endured ever since, not skipping a beat with the Timberwolves' move up to 5A in 2003.

During that run, Lake City has played in four state title games, winning two (2002 and '06). The T-Wolves played in three state title games in four years (1999, 2001 and '02). Lake City reached the semifinals five other times, and its 24-10 victory at Eagle last year in the first round marked Lake City's first road playoff win outside of North Idaho.

During that streak, Lake City was 15-14 in the playoffs, including 11-2 at home, 4-0 at home in state semifinals.

If the streak does end this year, it would be mostly a result of North Idaho getting only one berth to the state playoffs this year - in most years, the north received two berths.

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.