Cd'A hits road for tough opener

Prep football season kicks off tonight

Originally, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings planned to fly to California on Saturday, the morning of their season opener at powerful Folsom (Calif.) High.

Only two problems with that:

One, any number of things could have gone wrong (weather, mechanical difficulties, etc.) trying to fly down the day of the game, which would have kept the Vikings from reaching their destination on time.

(Post Falls, for example, lost out on its homecoming game one season when its opponent was unable to fly into Spokane on game day.)

And two ...

“I was not looking forward to hoping 60 kids woke up in time to get to the airport by 5 a.m.,” Coeur d’Alene High coach Shawn Amos said.

So the Vikings plan to leave today at 6 a.m. on charter buses, stop for the night in Redding, Calif., then knock off the final three hours of the trip on game day.

When they get to Folsom for the 7:30 p.m. kickoff, they’ll find a Bulldog team coming off a 14-1 season, which included a trip to the northern California championship game in Div. I-AA — the largest classification in California.

This preseason, they were ranked as the No. 1 team in the Sacramento area by the Sacramento Bee.

“They’re very athletic,” said Amos, noting the two teams exchanged game film from last year. “They are what their record indicates. They’re a legitimate program.”

The game was set up through a connection between Folsom coach Kris Richardson and Jeff Schroder, a former college teammate who is now involved with the Coeur d’Alene program. The two played high school football against each other in California, then were teammates at Diablo Valley College.

Richardson did some homework on the Vikings, then agreed to the game.

“Knowing the QB is a great player, we figured it would be worth a shot,” Richardson said, referring to Coeur d’Alene junior quarterback Colson Yankoff, who has verbally committed to Oregon. “The Yankoff kid’s a stud, the big tight end (Joey Naccarato) is a stud. And they’ve got good schematics. That 3-5-3 (defense), it’s definitely got its challenges. I’m the offensive line coach, and the challenge is to prepare my guys for the different blitzes that are coming.”

Last year, Folsom ran behind Jonah Williams, who is expected to start at right tackle at Alabama this year as a true freshman. Jake Browning, who started at quarterback for Washington last fall as a true freshman, is another Folsom alum. Richardson said over the past 7-8 years, Folsom has sent some 30 players on to Division I programs.

Richardson is in his 12th year as head coach at the school. Folsom won a state title in 2010.

Folsom installed blue turf on its home football field, Prairie City Stadium, some four years ago. Richardson and former assistant Troy Taylor, now on the staff at Eastern Washington, spent some time with the Boise State coaches and players a few years ago. Folsom was due to replace its artificial turf, and the players pushed for the new turf to be blue.

“The kids love it,” Richardson said.

The Vikings plan to stop along the way today for a light practice in Redmond, Ore., just outside Bend. The Viks plan to fly home on Sunday. Folsom is helping to cover Coeur d’Alene’s travel costs.

“It’s a memory — hopefully it’s going to be a decent memory,” Amos said.

The matchup is pencilled in as a two-game series, with the possible rematch up here to be discussed after Saturday’s game.

Most of the other area high school football teams open their seasons tonight at 7 p.m. — a lot closer to home.

Madison at Lake City: Bryce Erickson, son of former college and NFL coach Dennis Erickson, makes his debut as Lake City coach.

It will be the first game in Lake City history not played under coach Van Troxel, who started the Timberwolves program in 1994.

Erickson, who has installed a quick-tempo offense, is as curious as anyone else as to how his new team performs.

“It’s been surprisingly positive how quickly they’ve picked up the offense,” Erickson said. “We’ll find out what our identity is, and how we respond to adversity.”

Madison, of Rexburg, lost 23-21 to Mountain View of Meridian in the semifinals of last year’s state 5A playoffs, one week after winning 22-12 at Coeur d’Alene in the quarterfinals.

Madison defensive lineman Zeke Birch (6-5, 260) has verbally committed to Boise State.

Post Falls at Sandpoint: Emotions figure to run high in this one.

Blaine Bennett makes his debut as interim head coach of Post Falls. Bennett, a Trojan assistant last year, was named to the position when head coach Jeff Hinz chose to take a leave of absence last spring. Hinz, who coached the Trojans the past 11 seasons, died of cancer in July.

Sandpoint also has a new coach in George Yarno Jr., whose lost his father, former Washington State standout George Yarno, earlier this month.

Bonners Ferry at Lakeland: The schools were rivals in the Intermountain League until Lakeland moved from 3A to the 4A Inland Empire League in 2004.

Bonners Ferry is expected to challenge longtime IML power Timberlake for the league title.

It will be the first meeting betweent the two teams since 2007.

Kellogg at St. Maries: 2A St. Maries routed 3A Kellogg twice last year, 38-7 at the Kibbie Dome in the smoke-affected season opener, then 55-6 at St. Maries three weeks later.

Kootenai vs. Lewis County: The Warriors, coming off a one-win season, open with a White Star League game against the Eagles, scheduled to be played at Highland High in Craigmont. Lewis County beat Kootenai 60-14 last season.

Timberlake at Frenchtown (Saturday): The teams meet in the season opener for the third straight year. Two years ago, the teams played at the University of Montana’s stadium in Missoula. This year’s game is at Frenchtown High. Timberlake won each of the last two meetings.