IEL comes up with ‘Plan B’ football schedule

Uncertainty with Washington schools forces adjustments

Football teams in the 5A Inland Empire League are now tentatively scheduled to play each other twice, according to a “Plan B” football schedule hammered out by the seven athletic directors from IEL schools.

The IEL meets as a group but has been essentially two different leagues for years — a 5A IEL and 4A IEL — playing each other in “nonleague” games.

Some teams played twice, some once, some not at all in some sports.

Last fall, the league voted to become a combined league for volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball, with all seven teams playing each other twice in games that counted in the league standings.

“This is the nice thing about forming the league — now we’re going to help each other,” Lakeland AD Mike Divilbiss said. “If we get in trouble, and something changes, and nobody can travel, then we’ve got each other, 15 or 20 minutes apart.”

IEL schools already knew they would need new opponents for weeks 2 and 3 of the Idaho football season — Sept. 4 and 11 — if they were scheduled to play Washington schools. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington pushed back the start of its fall sports season to early September, wiping out any games scheduled for its weeks 1 and 2 (Sept. 4 and 11).

Plus, if IEL teams had games with Washington schools scheduled for later in the season, they had to be ready in case those games didn’t happen either.

The four 5A IEL teams — Coeur d’Alene, Lake City, Post Falls and Lewiston — are now pencilled in to play each other twice, with the first one a nonleague game.

Coeur d’Alene picked up games with 4A IEL squads Sandpoint and Lakeland, and could end up with a nine-game schedule if Lewiston’s foe on Aug. 28, Kuna, doesn’t travel north.

Some IEL teams have games with schools in southern and eastern Idaho, but IEL ADs said those teams have not said they weren’t coming, as of now.

Coeur d’Alene’s original schedule had four games vs. Washington teams. Lake City also had four, Post Falls three, Lakeland two.

Coeur d’Alene might have a bye on Sept. 18, if North Creek can’t play.

“But there other end of it is, there could be that somebody in southern Idaho lost a game,” Coeur d’Alene AD Mike Randles said, “and we’d try to match up something with them.”

The 5A IEL games are all scheduled for the last three weeks of the regular season, but the order could be shuffled so, between the nonleague and league games, “we don’t play the same team twice in three weeks,” Post Falls AD Craig Christensen said.

Washington’s late start will affect other fall sports in North Idaho. Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said the league will likely address those scheduling issues in the next league meeting, but needed to deal with football first because so many games were affected.

“We’ll probably have Plan C coming up here in a little while,” Winger said.

Here are the Plan B football schedules for Coeur d’Alene, Lake City, Post Falls and Lakeland:

COEUR d’ALENE

Aug. 21 — vs. East Anchorage. Aug. 28 — vs. Lewiston (if Lewiston’s game vs. Kuna falls through). Sept. 4 — Sandpoint (site TBA; replaces Mt. Spokane). Sept. 11 — vs. Lakeland (replaces Gonzaga Prep). Sept. 18 — Bye (if North Creek can’t play). Sept. 25 — at Lake City (nonleague; if Union can’t play). Oct. 2 — vs. Post Falls (nonleague; previously a bye week for Coeur d’Alene). Oct. 9 — vs. Lake City (league). Oct. 16 — at Post Falls (league). Oct. 23 — at Lewiston (league).

LAKE CITY

Aug. 28 — vs. Lakeland. Sept. 4 — vs. Lewiston (nonleague; replaces Lewis and Clark). Sept. 11 — at Sandpoint (replaces Ferris). Sept. 18 — at Post Falls (nonleague; if Moses Lake can’t play). Sept. 25 — vs. Coeur d’Alene (nonleague; if Camas can’t play). Oct. 2 — vs. Sandpoint. Oct. 9 — at Coeur d’Alene (league). Oct. 16 — at Lewiston (league). Oct. 23 — vs. Post Falls.

POST FALLS

Aug. 28 — at Sandpoint. Sept. 4 — vs. Rigby. Sept. 11 — at Lewiston (nonleague; replaces University). Sept. 18 — vs. Lake City (nonleague; if Eastmont can’t play). Sept. 25 — at Lakeland. Oct. 2 — at Coeur d’Alene (nonleague; if Pasco can’t play). Oct. 9 — vs. Lewiston (league). Oct. 16 — vs. Coeur d’Alene (league). Oct. 23 — at Lake City (league).

LAKELAND

Aug. 28 — at Lake City. Sept. 4 — vs. Columbia. Sept. 11 — at Coeur d’Alene (replaces West Valley). Sept. 18 — vs. St. Maries. Sept. 25 — vs. Post Falls. Oct. 2 — at Timberlake. Oct. 9 — at Moscow (league). Oct. 16 — vs. Asotin (or bye if Asotin can’t play). Oct. 23 — vs. Sandpoint (league).