THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, Nov. 20, 2014
It was a couple of years ago when Lake City High football coach Van Troxel knew this year's senior class was pretty special.
One afternoon at practice, about halfway through the season, the sophomore team was practicing with its coaches, and Troxel glanced their way at the end of practice.
He noticed the sophomore coaches walking off the field, but the sophomore players were still out on the field. They were running up a nearby hill as part of their training.
"They were running hills by themselves," Troxel said. "Nobody made them do it; they did it themselves."
Two years later, those sophomores, as seniors, led Lake City to the 5A Inland Empire League title, the Timberwolves' first victory over Coeur d'Alene since 2009, and as far as the semifinals of the state playoffs, where Lake City fell last Friday to Mountain View of Meridian.
Before Lake City's first playoff game this season, against Capital of Boise, Troxel gathered his 20 or so seniors together and asked them who wanted to be captains for the game.
"They didn't care; they just wanted to play," Troxel said. "So we did rock-paper-scissors for the four captains for that week."
One of Troxel's pet phrases after Lake City victories was that his team "found a way" to win.
Recently, he explained.
"It's what you define character as," Troxel said. "They never give up. They are good students, they work hard, they're dependable, they help people ... when you go, 'this is what we'd like a kid to be,' that's these guys."
In the close games during this year's 9-2 season, the Timberwolves found a way.
"We won two overtime games, and won a third game with four seconds left," Troxel said. "To me, that defines character, the will to win. They found a way."
* Idaho's men's basketball team travels to Dekalb, Ill., tonight to play Northern Illinois. Idaho's next game is next Tuesday vs. Boise State, at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.
Since Boise State left the Western Athletic Conference after the 2010-11 season, the Broncos haven't been back to Moscow.
And it doesn't look like they'll be back anytime soon.
The last time the two teams met in WAC play, Boise State won 70-67 in Moscow on Jan. 22, 2011.
They have played once each season since, but always in the Boise area - at the Idaho Center in Nampa in the 2011-12 season, and at CenturyLink Arena in Boise the next two seasons.
Boise State has won those three games by 3, 10 and 9 points.
"Is that game important?" Idaho coach Don Verlin said the other day. "Yeah, I just wish it was played differently. I wish they would come up here and play once in a while, but that doesn't seem to be something that's going to happen in the near future. So, that game will probably continue to be played in Boise."
Unfortunately for Idaho, the Vandals have no leverage in this tug-of-war. If Idaho wants to continue the series, the Vandals have to travel to BSU's back yard, which is good for Idaho alums in the Treasure Valley, bad for fans up here that want to see the Broncos.
Verlin said he has a good relationship with Boise State coach Leon Rice, going back 20-plus years, but "I think that decision (where the game is played) is made above Leon and I," Verlin said.
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@CdAPressSports.