Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls play for 5A IEL title
Coeur d’Alene has dominated the 5A Inland Empire League in football over the past decade.
The Vikings have won or shared six of the last eight league titles.
But Post Falls, the Vikings’ opponent on Friday at home in the regular season finale, has given Coeur d’Alene the most fits of any league team over that span.
Both teams have already qualified for the state playoffs. Friday’s winner earns a first-round bye and plays a home game in the quarterfinals in two weeks. Friday’s loser opens at home next week in the first round, taking on an at-large team.
In the 4A IEL, Moscow can win the league title by beating Lakeland at home on Friday, and Moscow and Sandpoint would advance to the state playoffs. But a Lakeland win would force a three-team Kansas tiebreaker next week to determine the league’s two playoff teams.
In the Intermountain League, Timberlake has already clinched the league’s top seed to the playoffs, a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals in two weeks. If the Tigers beat last-place Bonners Ferry on Friday, the winner of the game pitting Kellogg at Priest River will be the IML’s second seed to the playoffs, and travel in the first round.
In the Central Idaho League, St. Maries plays host to Orofino for the league’s second and last berth to the state 2A playoffs, though St. Maries would likely get in as an at-large team anyway, based on its RPI. Grangeville beat Orofino last week to wrap up the league title.
In the White Star League, Kootenai and Lakeside have long been out of playoff contention. Clark Fork plays host to Deary on Friday for the league’s second berth to the state 1A Division II playoffs.
As for the picks, Jason picked up a couple of games on yours truly last week, helped by wins by Sandpoint and Lakeside.
I went 3-3 on the high school picks, 2-1 on the college picks; Jason was 5-1 and 2-1.
For the season, I am 36-15 overall on high school picks, 20-4 on college, for a total of 56-19.
Jason is 35-16 overall on high school picks, 17-7 on college, for a total of 52-23.
HIGH SCHOOL
All games Friday at 7 p.m.
Coeur d’Alene (7-0, 2-0 5A Inland Empire League) at Post Falls (4-3, 2-0)
NELKE: Beware the home team if Post Falls keeps this close. Otherwise ...
Coeur d’Alene, 52-28
ELLIOTT: Games between these two schools have been pretty entertaining in recent years. The scoreboard operator is going to be pretty busy this night.
Coeur d’Alene, 49-24
Lake City (3-5, 0-2 5A IEL) at Lewiston (5-3, 0-2)
NELKE: How nice would it be for Lake City to take the momentum of a season-ending victory into next season? However, Lewiston, despite last week’s loss to Post Falls, still has a playoff berth to play for.
Lewiston, 42-20
ELLIOTT: Lake City had its moments last week against Coeur d’Alene, and will be a team to watch the more experience they get. Lewiston still has a ton to play for.
Lewiston, 35-28
Lakeland (3-5, 0-1 4A IEL) at Moscow (2-5, 1-0)
NELKE: Moscow beat Sandpoint, which beat Lakeland, which means ... nothing in this wacky league. Here’s to a Kansas tiebreaker.
Lakeland, 21-20
ELLIOTT: If the guys at College Gameday need something to entertain themselves while in Pullman on a Friday night, just take a short drive across the border for this one.
Moscow, 24-21
Bonners Ferry (1-7, 0-2 Intermountain League) at Timberlake (5-3, 2-0)
NELKE: After last season’s hiccup, the Tigers resume their position atop the IML standings.
Timberlake, 38-6
ELLIOTT: Timberlake finishes off its revenge tour through the Intermountain League with a big win over Bonners Ferry, then gets a home playoff game once again in Spirit Lake.
Timberlake, 48-12
Orofino (2-5, 0-1 Central Idaho League) at St. Maries (5-2, 0-1)
NELKE: The Lumberjacks, coming off a bye week, take their playoff fate out of the RPI’s hands.
St. Maries, 34-20
ELLIOTT: St. Maries earns its way into the playoffs once again.
St. Maries, 38-20
Kootenai (4-3, 1-3 White Star League) vs. Lewis County (1-5, 1-3) at Craigmont
NELKE: The Warriors finish on a high note.
Kootenai, 42-34
ELLIOTT: Kootenai builds toward making a run to the playoffs again next year.
Kootenai, 38-30
COLLEGE
Southern Utah (1-5, 1-2 Big Sky) at Idaho (2-4, 1-3)
Saturday, 2 p.m.
NELKE: Idaho did enough to win last week at Montana State, but fell one point short. If the Vandals put together the same effort this week ...
Idaho, 26-20
ELLIOTT: Idaho needs to win this one for a lot of different reasons, one being Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer’s return to Moscow as the grand marshall of Saturday’s homecoming parade. If that doesn’t get the team excited, then it’s going to be a long day.
Idaho, 28-20
Oregon (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) at Washington State (5-1, 2-1)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
NELKE: Will anybody be awake in Pullman on Saturday at 6 a.m., when ESPN’s College GameDay comes on the air? I mean, other than people that were already awake from Friday night? As for the game ...
WSU, 33-30
ELLIOTT: This is probably the biggest game the Cougars have played at home in a long time. With all the noise around who’s coming to town and the chaos that surrounds it, WSU shows why it hasn’t been in a lot of big games lately ...
Oregon, 38-30
Colorado State (3-4, 2-1 Mountain West) at Boise State (4-2, 2-1)
Friday, 6 p.m.
NELKE: The Rams might keep this one close. Emphasis on might. Or the Broncos might bust loose after two straight tight games in league.
Boise State, 38-16
ELLIOTT: Boise State can’t afford to lose many more games if they want to play for the Mountain West Conference title.
Boise State, 35-17