Cd'A vs. G-Prep: A rematch decades in the making

Gonzaga Prep football coach Dave McKenna remembers when the Bullpups and Coeur d’Alene clashed on the football field in 1981 and ‘82.

His older brother played in the 1982 game.

“Both were real good football games,” McKenna recalled. “Both teams got after it; both programs were really, really good. I just remember they were very competitive, tough games.”

For the record, Coeur d’Alene won both games.

The Vikings routed the Bullpups 40-14 in 1981 at Viking Field. One year later, Coeur d’Alene rallied past Prep 23-17 in a game played at Spokane Falls Community College.

But for one reason or another, Coeur d’Alene and Gonzaga Prep have not played since.

Until Friday.

For the first time since 1982, Gonzaga Prep and Coeur d’Alene are scheduled to meet in football. The teams agreed to a home-and-home series — the first game is Friday at 7 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene High’s Viking field, the second game is next season at Gonzaga Prep.

What took so long?

“Part of it was scheduling,” said McKenna, beginning his 11th season as Bullpups coach. “The Greater Spokane League has changed so many times.”

In many years, each team’s entire regular season schedule consisted of league games. In recent years, teams have had room for nonleague games — the dates just didn’t line up for, say, Coeur d’Alene to play Gonzaga Prep (McKenna noted that the Bullpups played Lake City in a home-and-home roughly a decade ago).

“It wasn’t that either school didn’t necessarily want to schedule the other — it just didn’t work out,” McKenna said.

COEUR d’ALENE COACH Shawn Amos, who graduated from Moscow High in 1986, hadn’t heard about those past G-Prep/Coeur d’Alene battles until he started coaching the Vikings in 1997.

“We have a lot of respect for Gonzaga Prep’s program, so we have wanted to play them for years,” Amos said. “We are always looking for challenges and they are one of the top programs in Washington.”

Coeur d’Alene has played a lot of high quality nonleague opponents in recent years — Folsom (Calif.), Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.), Highland of Pocatello and Camas (Wash.) are some that quickly come to mind.

And, in a league as small as the four-team Inland Empire League, the more top-notch nonleague matchups, the better — it keeps the fan interest high until the games that “count” later in the season.

HOW BIG were those Coeur d’Alene-Gonzaga Prep games back then?

After the 1981 romp at home, Viking assistant coach Steve Caires pointed to the scoreboard after the game and declared, “We’ve been working for that for a long time.”

“This is my 25th year (of coaching),” Coeur d’Alene head coach Herb Criner said, “and this victory ranks right among the top.”

Before an estimated crowd of 2,400, Steve Halliday passed for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Vikings, and Scott Shellman rushed for 126 yards and two scores.

One year later, Coeur d’Alene rallied from a 14-6 halftime deficit to beat the Bullpups at SFCC.

“I wanted it very badly,” Criner said. “I think it proves that we’re for real at Coeur d’Alene, and that we can play with the GSL. We’ve established our position as a good football team.”

In both meetings, Gonzaga Prep was playing its season opener, while Coeur d’Alene had already played a game.

In ’82, Scott Wellman’s second touchdown pass of the game, a 13-yarder to Tim Sperber, followed by a two-point conversion pass to Dan Hannon, tied the game at 14 in the third quarter.

Shellman’s 1-yard run later in the quarter put the Viks ahead 20-14, and Mike Cox booted a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

G-Prep pulled within 6 with a field goal, but Cox helped secure the win with a diving interception at the Viking 37.

GONZAGA PREP, given its status and success (four GSL titles and one state 4A title in the last five seasons alone, and a pedigree that goes WAY back), can pretty much play anybody it wants in nonleague. McKenna said the Bullpups have sought to play other Jesuit schools on the West Coast — hence, the recent games vs. Bellarmine Prep and Eastside Catholic of the Seattle area, and Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, Calif.

“We want great, quality opponents,” McKenna said. “Coeur d’Alene is that school — and they’re close.”

McKenna and Amos have become friends in recent years, with their two teams squaring off in the Border League camp each summer.

“Coach Amos is a great person, and a great man,” McKenna said. “He asked for (the game), and it worked out.”

As for the matchup, Gonzaga Prep returns more experience than Coeur d’Alene, but while it’s the season opener for the Bullpups, the Vikings have already played a game, rallying for a 29-26 win at Rigby last Friday.

“That’s a disadvantage for us,” McKenna said of Coeur d’Alene having a game under its belt.

Connor Halonen returns at quarterback for Prep, but the Bullpups lost running back Jamaari Jones, a football/basketball standout, to a torn ACL suffered this summer at a basketball camp.

From an hour away, McKenna has kept tabs on Coeur d’Alene football, in part because of his relationship with Amos.

“He’s got dudes; he’s got players,” McKenna said. “We didn’t play them, but I’ve always followed them because of the Border camp.”

After the current home-and-home arrangement, Amos is hopeful the teams can continue to meet — but again, the open dates would have to line up.

“I hope we can make it a regular part of our schedule,” Amos said. “I think this game is good for high school football in the area and should bring some excitement to the early season games. It certainly will be a major challenge for our young team.”

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.