THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016

Last year, the St. Maries Lumberjacks had two losses.

Both came against the two teams playing in the title game of the state 2A football playoffs.

That won’t happen this year, one way or the other.

WITH A win in Saturday’s semifinal game against Bear Lake at Holt Arena in Pocatello, the Lumberjacks will advance to the state title game for the first time since dropping to the 2A classification in 2012. St. Maries won in the opening round of the state playoffs in 2014, beating New Plymouth before losing to Orofino in the quarterfinals.

New Plymouth lost at St. Maries to open the 2015 state playoffs, but again St. Maries could not get past the quarterfinals, losing at Aberdeen.

This time around, the Lumberjacks finished it in the quarterfinals, beating North Fremont 33-14 to advance.

“Last year’s team set the stage for this season,” said St. Maries coach Craig Tefft, who took over the program in 2010, when the Lumberjacks were still in the (3A) Intermountain League, and finished 3-6. “We had a great year last year, and our two losses were to the teams that played for all the marbles. These guys were on a mission this year.”

Tefft is familiar with the stage of the playoffs, serving as an assistant coach at Kendrick High under Kevin Driskill when the Tigers won back-to-back state titles in 2000 and 2001 at the 1A level.

“I’m pretty proud of Craig,” said Driskill, who is now the principal at Lewiston High. “We had a lot of success in those years, and he was a huge part of that.”

Tefft played quarterback for Driskill at Kendrick in 1992-94, graduating in 1995.

“He’s good for kids and he’s got a genuine care for those kids,” Driskill said. “The way he took care of his teammates, he’s always had that for people. I don’t know that there’s a person that doesn’t think the world of him. When St. Maries got Craig up there to coach, I know they were really happy.”

Driskill added he texted Tefft after last Saturday’s game.

“I’m very excited for him and everything he’s got going up there,” Driskill said. “There’s no question he’s worked his tail off to get to this point. He’s taken his teams over to the Montana Tech (University) camp because they play a good brand of football. We used to take our teams over there and he just enjoys that brand of football and that’s how he wanted to build their program.”

TEFFT TOOK over the program in 2010 after the team went 0-8. St. Maries won six games in 2014 and eight in 2015. They’ve already eclipsed that by two, entering Saturday’s game 10-0.

“Both (former St. Maries football coach and ex-Lumberjacks standout) Jason (Hall) and I worked hard to make St. Maries relevant in football,” Tefft said. “The biggest change was the kids’ work ethic in the weight room and going to Montana for football camp. It was there when the kids started to learn basic fundamentals, and how to compete has really helped too.”

And compete they have, beating Grangeville — the 2015 state 2A champion — 8-0 in Grangeville to avenge that setback from last year. Declo hosts Aberdeen in the other 2A semifinal on Friday.

“It’s been a great journey,” Tefft said. “It’s been a very gratifying journey, but it doesn’t happen unless you’re surrounded by a lot of good people in your community and coaches. Good coaches, good parents, and a good administration. You just can’t do this without a lot of help and good people.”

Having to make the trip to Pocatello for this weekend’s game shouldn’t affect his team, added Tefft.

“It’s just such a close group of kids,” Tefft said. “They love to get on the bus. They love football and love to compete. Travel won’t be an issue for us.”

A handful of players on the football team also played on the basketball team that finished third at the state basketball tournament in 2015, the program’s first trophy since 2009.

“It’s been an awesome run,” said senior receiver/defensive lineman Brady Martin, who also is a forward on the basketball team. “We’ve been playing together for such a long time. We’ve got that chemistry and know what everyone else is going to do. We know how to pick each other up. It’s been a great ride for sure.”

Driskill said he wasn’t going to able to make the trip to see his former player and coach in person this week.

That being said, with a win ....

“If they win this weekend, we’ll see what happens,” Driskill said. “He’s a very good friend of mine. I hope they get two more.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.