The big games start this week
For a while Friday night and Saturday morning, it looked like Post Falls was going to play host to Lewiston in the first round of the state 5A football playoffs.
That would have been a rematch of a game two weeks ago, won by Post Falls 34-28 in overtime.
But then, after some discussion and research, Shadle Park’s enrollment was deemed sufficient enough to qualify it as a “Big School,” and Lewiston’s win over the Highlanders earlier this season was enough to make the Bengals’ record against “Big Schools” good enough (3-2, .600 percentage) to give them the top at-large berth, and send Lewiston to Eagle in the first round.
That gave Skyview (5-4 vs. “Big Schools,” .555 percentage) of Nampa the next at-large berth, and a trip to Post Falls (4-4) for a first-round playoff game Friday at 7 at Trojan Stadium.
The Hawks (5-4), which moved up from 4A this season, concluded the regular season last week with a 70-50 victory over Meridian. Skyview’s Tyler Crowe rushed for 457 yards and six touchdowns, and caught five passes for 112 yards and a score.
Skyview totaled 865 yards of offense, but also gave up 552.
In the state 2A playoffs, St. Maries travels to New Plymouth in a first-round battle of 5-3 teams.
Coeur d’Alene (8-0) has a first-round bye this week, and plays at home next Friday vs. the winner of this Friday’s game between Capital (6-3) and Borah (5-4) in a state 5A quarterfinal.
In 3A, Timberlake also has a first-round bye, and will play host to the winner of tonight’s game between South Fremont (5-3) and Weiser (5-3) next week in a quarterfinal game.
As for the picks, I went 4-2 last week on the high school picks (missing on Lakeland and St. Maries) and 3-0 on the college games.
Jason went 5-1 on the high school picks (also missing on St. Maries), and 2-1 on the college games (he took Oregon over WSU).
After nine weeks, I am 40-17 on high school games, 23-4 on college, 63-21 overall.
Jason is 40-17 on high school games, 19-8 on college, 59-25 overall.
HIGH SCHOOL
Skyview (5-4) at Post Falls (4-4)
Friday, 7 p.m.
NELKE: Maybe Crowe and the rest of the Hawks are tired after all that running around last week. That, and the long bus ride up to North Idaho — something Boise-area teams seldom do ...
Post Falls, 26-24
ELLIOTT: For a team as young as Post Falls, getting to this moment is a big step forward. These teams seem pretty similar on offense.
Skyview, 34-30
St. Maries (5-3) at New Plymouth (5-3)
Friday, 3 p.m.
NELKE: Last week’s overtime loss at Orofino cost the Lumberjacks a home game in the first round of the state playoffs. If they don’t bounce back, it will be an earlier start to basketball season.
New Plymouth, 34-28
ELLIOTT: Maybe that long bus ride will do the Lumberjacks some good.
St. Maries, 34-26
Kendrick (7-0, 5-0 White Star League) at Kootenai (5-3, 2-3)
Friday, 7 p.m.
NELKE: For a team that was eliminated from playoff contention long ago, Kootenai has still put together a pretty nice season. Playing the league champs is a tough way to go out, though.
Kendrick, 58-24
ELLIOTT: Kendrick caps an unbeaten regular season.
Kendrick, 44-20
Deary (5-2, 4-1 WSL) at Lakeside (2-6, 1-4)
Friday, 7 p.m.
NELKE: Not the easiest finale for Lakeside, either, going up against the league’s No. 2 seed to the state playoffs.
Deary, 48-22
ELLIOTT: Deary gets past Lakeside on the way to the Division II playoffs.
Deary, 56-22
COLLEGE
Idaho (3-4, 2-3 Big Sky) at Eastern Washington (5-2, 3-1)
Saturday, noon
NELKE: The Vandals are coming off a solid showing in a victory over Southern Utah last week. Eastern has been without its starting quarterback, Gage Gubrud, the past two games, though he is finally out of his boot, and practicing. No matter who the QB is, EWU is still explosive on offense. It’s up to Idaho to keep it close.
EWU, 42-24
ELLIOTT: Eastern’s probably a little more fired up than normal for this one.
EWU, 49-28
Washington State (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) at Stanford (5-2, 2-1)
Saturday, 4 p.m.
NELKE: The Cougars are ripe for a letdown, especially on The Farm, coming off an emotional win over Oregon on Saturday. Plus there was that GameDay thing. Then again, these aren’t the old Cougars.
WSU, 24-20
ELLIOTT: Could it really happen? Could Gardner Minshew play well enough that the national media starts talking about him as a Heisman Trophy candidate instead of Stanford’s Bryce Love. Minshew gets his chance to prove it this weekend.
Stanford, 27-24
Boise State (5-2, 3-1 Mountain West) at Air Force (3-4, 1-3)
Saturday, 4 p.m.
NELKE: Boise State has struggled against Air Force’s option in the past. That shouldn’t happen this year.
Boise State, 33-14
ELLIOTT: Boise State wins, but not by as much as many think.
Boise State, 27-24