THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, June 12, 2014

The quarterback suffering a concussion on a frozen field just a few feet away from me was memorable enough.

His season-ending broken ankle two weeks later - and watching him being loaded into an ambulance - well, that was hard to stomach.

And to see his father and head coach diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma during the season, and the outpouring of love that followed from the Coeur d'Alene High community - how much hardship can one family take?

That's the automatic memory from the Vikings' state championship football season last fall.

But what I'll also remember is the sophomore quarterback who few had heard of until he was needed the most. Austin Lee didn't have to drive the Vikings home all by himself - he just had to keep the finely-tuned engine running.

I'll remember that one of his favorite targets/security blankets was Chase Blakley, the man-child of a tight end who is headed to Boise State.

During the season, it almost seemed like they could have thrown to Blakley on every play, though the other team might have figured that out after a while. Plus, there were plenty of other talented skill-position players who deserved their chance to shine.

In Lee's first start, the regular season finale against Post Falls, six of his 13 completions went to Blakley, for 148 yards and a touchdown. The following week, in the first round of the state playoffs, when Lee entered the game after Amos was injured in the second quarter, five of his eight completions went to Blakley, two of them for touchdowns.

Just two of Lee's nine completions went to Blakley in the semifinal win over Capital, but in the title game, Lee hooked up with Blakley five times for 64 yards - including a 28-yard connection on third and one to keep the final drive alive.

Then, to see Lee guide the Vikings 80 yards in just 44 seconds in the closing minutes, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with a Gunnar Amos-like 15-yard scramble with 47 seconds left in a 31-28 victory over Highland of Pocatello, well, that was like a storybook finish for the Vikings - especially Lee, Amos and father/coach Shawn Amos.

Other memories: One year after a senior-laden team helped deliver Post Falls its first state boys soccer title, returning star Timmy Mueller led a largely junior-laden squad to the 5A Region 1 title, and back to state. In the regional title game, the Oregon State signee scored a hat trick, including the game-winner seven minutes into sudden-death overtime, in a 3-2 victory over Lake City. One week later, his 104th and final goal of his high school career was the difference as Post Falls beat Lake City once again, this time for the consolation title. ...

... JJ Winger for 3 ...

,,, Watching Breana Burke go from a promising freshman pitcher at Coeur d'Alene last spring to a dominating one as a sophomore, nearly leading the Vikings back through the losers bracket to a state title. Still, second place wasn't too shabby. Look at it this way - Coeur d'Alene has won five state fastpitch titles since 1995, and finished second seven other times, meaning the Vikings have played for the state title 12 times in 20 seasons. Pretty impressive ... and only four players graduated off this year's club. ...

... Post Falls wrestling coach Pete Reardan could have complained the past few years when his talented Trojan squad lost a numbers battle at state, especially the last two years to Centennial of the Boise area. Post Falls was second to Lewiston in 2012, second to Centennial in '13 and third last year. In each of the last two years, Centennial had way more state qualifiers than Post Falls, in part because the top eight in each weight qualify down there, whereas the four North Idaho teams beat each other up up here. But he's never used that as an excuse - Post Falls just keeps fighting, and who knows what eventually could happen.

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.