STATE 5A PLAYOFFS: Engineering another state 5A playoff run

COEUR d’ALENE — Someday in the future, Coeur d’Alene High senior Austin Lee wants to be his own boss, either in architecture or construction engineering.

First things first, though.

He’ll be trying to engineer another state playoff run as quarterback of the Coeur d’Alene High football team (7-2) starting Friday vs. the Madison Bobcats (9-1) of Rexburg at Viking Stadium at 7 p.m.

His interest in architecture started with a project as an eighth-grader at Lakes Middle School.

“It was very similar to drawing blueprints,” Lee said. “I’ve got a close friend whose dad is an architect, and he’s always got time for his kids. Eventually, I’m going to want a family and something like that interests me. And I thought I’d have fun doing it.”

He’s unsure of where he wants to study, either a four-year school or a community college.

“I’d like to go play college football,” Lee said. “I’ve got a few small schools that are talking to me. If not, that would be fine too; I’ll just go to a community college and get my degree in something.”

Just like his work on the football field, Lee has worked just as hard in the classroom — with a little nudge from Coeur d’Alene High football coach Shawn Amos.

“My grades aren’t the best right now,” Lee said. “If I could start high school all over, I’d focus on my grades more than anything. Coach Amos gives me a rough time ... I love it, because it really motivates me to do better in school. I’m doing a lot better job in school this year. My grades aren’t great, but I’m doing a better job of it this year.”

“I think his schoolwork is more important to him now,” Amos said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t as important early on. He’s still going to have a chance to play somewhere. I’m on all the kids about their grades. Having a good education gives them more opportunities, and he needs to give himself an opportunity. Our primary focus is to get him and other kids to where they’ve got choices.”

After a 20-0 loss to Skyline High of Idaho Falls in the season opener, Coeur d’Alene reeled off seven straight wins to clinch the 5A Inland Empire League championship and first round bye in the state 5A playoffs. The Vikings lost their regular season finale to Post Falls two weeks ago, and had the bye last week.

“It was really frustrating,” said Lee of the opening loss to Skyline. “Each play we were running just wasn’t going our way.”

Coeur d’Alene got back on track with a 37-30 win at Central Valley of Spokane Valley on Sept. 5, with Lee hitting Brody Lundblad on a 66-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining.

“I had a couple of plays against Central Valley where I made some bad mistakes,” Lee said. “But I was grateful for my teammates to have the faith in me at the end. Sometimes you just need those kinds of games to get things started. We went into the Skyline game thinking we were going to run right over them, but they punched us right in the mouth. And we weren’t expecting that. Against Central Valley, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, but knew at the end of it, we had a chance and that pretty much pulled us through.”

Last season, in his first full year as starting quarterback, Lee led Coeur d’Alene to the state playoffs, losing in the quarterfinals at Rocky Mountain High of Meridian.

Lee threw for 3,323 yards, with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions on 354 attempts.

“Last year’s team was really a ‘Me’ team,” Lee said. “Coming into this year, it was still like that a little bit.”

Before the start of the season, Lee found out he’d be splitting reps at quarterback with sophomore Cole Yankoff, who received a scholarship offer from Texas Tech.

“When I heard I was going to be sharing time with Cole, I got a little jealous,” Lee said. “It’s more for the team than any individual right now. It’s kind of like my sophomore year, when we were playing for Gunnar and coach Amos. It’s about your brothers on the field, not just one individual. I’m really glad I got the chance to play with this group.”

In case anyone forgot the 2013 season, Lee stepped in when Gunnar Amos, the team’s starting quarterback, broke his ankle in the state playoffs and led the Vikings to the state title, beating Highland 31-28 in the championship game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

“That team really carried me throughout the playoffs,” Lee said. “That was an amazing group of kids and we had a bunch of great players. Addison Johnson (who walked on at Stanford) and Chase Blakley (a redshirt sophomore at Boise State) — my main man — who I could throw the ball to and he’d go get it. That team really picked me up and I never really got down on myself. I didn’t really want to ruin the season for them and they just carried me through it.”

Lee’s 15-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds remaining clinched the title in the team’s fourth straight trip to the title game; the Viks also won titles in 2010 and 2011.

“It brought me to tears,” Lee said. “I was an emotional wreck after that play. It meant so much for me to do that for Gunnar and coach Amos. Throughout the year, we had all kinds of adversity with players getting injured. I did it for each player on that team and just trying to fill that space. It was awesome.”

During the season, Lee often starts the first quarter, with Yankoff playing in the second quarter. After that, the coaches decide who plays when in the second half.

“He’s a great kid and an awesome athlete,” Lee said of Yankoff. “He can make some plays. For me, splitting time with him isn’t that much of an issue for me anymore. He’s proven himself. God forbid, if I got hurt, I know we’d be in good hands and I’d be perfectly fine with the ball in his hands.”

When he’s not at quarterback, Lee, who is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, moves out to receiver in some formations, something Yankoff also does when not playing QB.

“I like it,” Lee said. “It’s just another opportunity to get the ball in my hands. It’s kind of nice, because you know where the openings on the field are going to be. I kind of know what Cole’s thinking when he’s back there at quarterback. I’m always thinking I’m going to get the ball and score a touchdown on this play.”

“It hasn’t always been smooth, and we knew that it wasn’t always going to be,” Amos said of the two-quarterback system. “When you’ve got two competitive, talented boys — and that’s what makes them so good — they’ve done an excellent job with it. Austin, he’s the senior, and he’s sacrificed the most to do what’s best for the team this year.”

Lee had thrown for 1,532 yards and 13 touchdowns with four interceptions. Lee also leads the team in rushing with 447 yards. Yankoff has thrown for 825 yards and seven touchdowns in 101 attempts.

“He’s a whole different kid since his sophomore year,” Amos said of Lee. “He didn’t really know much as a sophomore. He was just trying to survive in a tough situation and was surrounded by a lot of good kids. Now, he’s a leader and people are looking at him on how to practice and how he carries himself. Now, he’s in that leadership role.”

On occasion, he’ll also give advice to Yankoff about he can improve on the field.

“He’s really hard on himself,” Lee said of Yankoff. “I love the kid, but he’s way too hard on himself. If he does a play wrong, he gets upset. He really needs to focus on the next play, which he does a really good job of doing. His biggest concern is kind of like I was as a sophomore, and that he’s too nervous. He just needs to calm down and let the game come to him. He’s got the talent to do it for sure.”

Last year, after punter Cole Williams tore his ACL against Hermiston, Lee stepped in to fill the void.

“I’m the backup punter now, thank God,” Lee said. “When Cole (Williams) tore his ACL, I had to learn how to punt. I’m not good at it. I’m actually terrible at it. Cole (Yankoff) is way better at it than I am. It’s good that he’s back there.”

When he started his football career in Junior Tackle, Lee often times played center and along the offensive line before moving to quarterback.

“I was just bigger than anyone else, so they put me somewhere on the offensive line,” Lee said. “I didn’t start playing quarterback until the seventh grade when I played for the arena football team and have been there ever since.”

Madison beat the Vikings in the 2012 state title game at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

“We just need to keep grinding,” Lee said. “We need to forget about last week (a 24-21 loss to Post Falls in the regular season finale on Oct. 23) and focus on this week. We had a bye and got a chance to get a couple of good weeks of work in. Now we just need to focus and keep grinding. If we listen to our coaches and do what we’re taught, we should can a good chance.”

When he’s not on the football field, Lee likes to be outdoors.

“I hang out with my friends in my free time,” Lee said. “I also play on the basketball team, fish and pretty much do anything outdoors. Anything to get me out of the house really. It helps me take my mind off things. But during football season, nothing gets my mind off that.”

Hopefully in his case, he won’t have to think about anything but school and football for a few more weeks.