GRIDIRON GUESSES: League play begins in IEL, IML
By MARK NELKE
and JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writers
Three weeks ago, Lake City was halfway to a big bounceback victory, leading Post Falls 13-0 at intermission.
Then they played the second half.
Post Falls won 34-13 in the Tale of Two Halves Bowl.
It was Lake City's third straight loss, and the T-Wolves would drop their fourth straight the following week to Coeur d'Alene, before ending the skid last week against Sandpoint.
Lake City gets another shot at Post Falls tonight — and this time it counts in the league standings, as it's the opening week of 5A Inland Empire League play.
“It’s such an odd year,” Lake City coach Brian Fulp said. “We didn’t get much time in the summer to find out who we were. We don’t like the spot we’re in right now, but we like how this team is playing heading into league. We were in all those games and were really close. But it’s going to come down to whichever team executes the best.”
In the other 5A IEL opener, Coeur d'Alene travels to Lewiston.
Coeur d'Alene has won the last three 5A IEL titles, and won or shared eight of the last 10.
The top two teams in the league advance to the 12-team state playoffs. The third-place finisher could be in line for one of the two at-large berths.
4A IEL play also starts tonight, with Lakeland traveling to Moscow to face the Bears in the Kibbie Dome.
Moscow travels to Sandpoint on Oct. 16, and Sandpoint visits Lakeland on Oct. 23 to wrap up play in the three-team league.
Moscow has won the last two 4A IEL titles. But the Bears weren't even in the league at the start of the season, as Moscow elected in August to have its high school teams play strictly as intramural teams, due to COVID-19 concerns. But Moscow changed its mind on Sept. 1, and was welcomed back into the IEL fray.
Only the league champ is guaranteed a berth in the 16-team state playoffs. The other two teams could be in the running for four at-large berths, to be determined by MaxPreps rankings.
Intermountain League (3A) play also starts tonight, with Timberlake at Kellogg and Priest River at Bonners Ferry.
Only the conference champion is guaranteed a state playoff berth. The others will be considered for one of six play-in qualifier berths statewide, to be determined by MaxPreps rankings.
Timberlake has won 10 of the last 11 IML titles. The only other team to win league during that span — Kellogg, in 2017.
The (2A) Central Idaho League was supposed to begin tonight, with St. Maries visiting Grangeville. But the visiting Lumberjacks are still in COVID-19 quarantine, so that game was pushed back to Oct. 30.
St. Maries' game at Lakeland on Oct. 16 has already been canceled, as the Lumberjacks will not have returned from quarantine until that Thursday, and will not have practiced for more than two weeks.
Kootenai, which has had two canceled games, two forfeits and two byes in the first six weeks, is scheduled to actually make its debut on the football field tonight, playing host to Wallace in a nonleague game.
Lakeside is idle.
As for the picks, Mark went 4-0 last week, Jason 3-1, missing Mullan-St. Regis' win over Lakeside.
For the season, Jason is 15-7, Mark 14-8.
HIGH SCHOOLS
All games Friday at 7 p.m.
Coeur d'Alene (4-0, 0-0 5A IEL) at Lewiston (3-3, 0-0)
NELKE: Other than Colton Richardson-led Lewiston's 55-51 victory over Coeur d'Alene and Colson Yankoff in 2016, the Vikings have dominated the series in recent years, winning 11 of the last 12, and 16 of the last 18.
Coeur d'Alene, 48-18
ELLIOTT: Coeur d'Alene has been pretty impressive so far this year. Even if the Vikings get challenged in this one, they'll find a way to get it done.
Coeur d'Alene, 44-24
Post Falls (3-2, 0-0 5A IEL) at Lake City (2-4, 0-0)
NELKE: Post Falls looked the best of the three 5A IEL teams not named Coeur d'Alene in the nonleague portion of the schedule — even including last week's 48-7 beatdown by the Vikings. Lake City is due for a breakout game one of these weeks.
Lake City, 26-21
ELLIOTT: It took Lake City a bit to get going last Friday against Sandpoint at home. While the Timberwolves are at home again this week, a slow start again this week might mean trouble.
Post Falls, 34-27
Lakeland (3-2, 0-0 4A IEL) vs. Moscow (2-0, 0-0) at Kibbie Dome, Moscow
NELKE: Both teams have beaten Lewiston in the Kibbie Dome, Lakeland winning 39-24 and Moscow prevailing 28-20. The Hawks were more dominant when they last visited the Dome three weeks ago.
Lakeland, 26-20
ELLIOTT: Moscow has given Lakeland fits at home in recent years. If Lakeland can win tonight, it will be huge for them going forward.
Moscow, 24-20
Timberlake (1-3, 0-0 Intermountain League) at Kellogg (1-2, 0-0)
NELKE: Timberlake is young, but improving, taking Lakeland to the wire last week before an interception late in the game led to the winning score by the Hawks. Generally, it's Timberlake's league until someone proves they can beat them.
Timberlake, 28-20
ELLIOTT: Whoever wins this game should be right in line for a playoff berth. Timberlake seems to have found its footing in recent weeks.
Timberlake, 28-14
Wallace (0-4) at Kootenai (0-2)
NELKE: Just playing would be a win for Kootenai, which was unable to field a team last season.
Wallace, 30-6
ELLIOTT: Hey, why not?
Kootenai, 28-26