Vikings cruise to win over Minico

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

COEUR d'ALENE - After being the team on the nine-hour bus ride in three of their first four games - the Coeur d'Alene Vikings got a chance to see what the other half felt like on Friday night.

And it felt good.

5A Coeur d'Alene, playing only its second home game of the season, rolled past the 4A Minico Spartans of Rupert 60-14 in a nonleague football game at Viking Stadium.

"It was nice," Coeur d'Alene coach Shawn Amos said. "We knew the first part of the season was going to be a grind. Hopefully we've learned a lot and I think we did. Now we've got to play some important games."

The game was played with a running clock throughout the second half after the Vikings built a 54-7 lead at halftime.

Coeur d'Alene (2-3) opens 5A Inland Empire League play next week against Lewiston at Viking Stadium next Friday.

"Next week is a playoff game for us," Amos said. "Lewiston will come up ready to go and looking to knock us off. The kids will get to enjoy this win for a few days, but us coaches, we've got to get back to work tomorrow."

The Vikings turned the ball over on the opening play of the game on a fumble, but Minico was unable to capitalize from the 15-yard line.

Coeur d'Alene never looked back again.

"At the start of the game, I thought it was going to be a nightmare," Amos said. "But if we hold onto the ball and do our job, we've got a chance."

Sophomore Jonny Plum went untouched on a 40-yard run, then returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter for Coeur d'Alene.

"I had the receivers make some good blocks for me," Plum said. "Both Chase (Blakley) and Jackson (Carlson) broke on the outside and made some nice blocks for me. Every game I've improved a lot. It was good to be at home finally and each game is like a big learning experience and we've got to keep improving every game."

"Jonny's a good athlete," Amos said. "He can really play and we've got some good players. If we do our jobs, we're going to be OK."

Senior quarterback Gunnar Amos completed 13 of 14 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown, along with a four-yard scoring run in the first quarter. Chase Blakley had three catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Minico (2-3) traveled 603 miles from its campus in Rupert for the game.

Minico 0 7 0 7 - 14

Coeur d'Alene 20 34 6 0 - 60

Cd'A - Chase Blakley 29 pass from Gunnar Amos (Brennen Barber kick) 7:48.

Cd'A - Amos 4 run (Barber kick) 4:48.

Cd'A - Jason Stith punt block recovery in end zone (kick failed) 2:40.

Cd'A - Drew Berger 3 run (Barber kick) 11:55.

Cd'A - Jonny Plum 40 run (Barber kick) 10:11.

Min - Peyton Bailey 48 run (Tanner Harper kick) 9:30.

Cd'A - Plum 75 kickoff return (Barber kick) 9:18.

Cd'A - Gibson Green 2 run (kick failed) 5:14.

Cd'A - Berger 16 run (Barber kick) 54.0.

Cd'A - Griphen Le 2 run (run failed) 8:08.

Min - Chris Caldera 20 pass from Harper (Harper kick) 8:38.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Min, Freiburger 9-3, Bailey 7-83, Harper 5-(-11), Davis 11-61. Cd'A, Johnson 2-6, Amos 4-45, Berger 3-33, Plum 1-40, Green 2-10, Le 7-57.

PASSING - Min, Harper 7-16-1-84. Cd'A, Amos 13-14-0-218, Lee 1-2-0-0.

RECEIVING - Min, Freiburger 4-20, Barclay 1-32, Caldera 2-32. Cd'A, Johnson 2-44, Walde 1-44, Holgate 1-21, Blakely 3-46, Whiteside 2-53, DeHaas 1-11, Belmont 1-5, Green 2-45, Le 1-0.