PREP FOOTBALL: Rad in red
COEUR d’ALENE — In America, there’s nothing that beats the Friday Night Lights of high school football.
On Friday, all it took was a little red to get the Coeur d’Alene Vikings going.
Coeur d’Alene, which has sometimes worn all black to go with the traditional blue, debuted its new all-red uniforms against Lakeland at Viking Field.
“We thought with 9-11, Red, White and Blue, it’s America,” said Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos. “Our kids get excited for it. I hate it because it’s a nightmare to keep track of them, but the kids love them. It gets them excited because they have a lot of choices and they looked pretty sharp.”
As for the game, so did the Vikings, who beat the Hawks 48-7 in a nonleague game.
Coeur d’Alene linebacker Luke McLaughlin had a fumble return for a touchdown in the first half.
“It felt good,” McLaughlin said of the touchdown. “It didn’t feel that good running. That No. 77 (Lakeland’s Kadin Craner) was chuggin’ and coming after me, and thought he was going to get me, but I made it in safely.”
“He’s just a stud,” Amos said. “He’s a great football player and brings a lot of energy. I think there’s a lot of kids that trust each other is going to do their job. It’s kind of challenging to share the reps, and a kid like Luke has to come out for a series to let someone else play. And it really shows how unselfish he is. They all are, and we’ve got guys that should be starting each snap, but we’re looking further down the road. We’ve got good guys that deserve to play.”
As for the red jerseys, it was something McLaughlin has wanted in his previous two years on varsity.
“Thursday in our meeting, the coaches brought them out,” McLaughlin said. “Everyone on the team has been wanting these for years. It’s such a small color on our stuff, but everyone on the team loved it. I want to wear them again, in one of the bigger games. If we make it to the playoffs, throw them out and see what happens then.”
Coeur d’Alene opened the season with a 55-0 win over Sandpoint on Sept. 4.
“It’s probably been a lot of stopping the run and pass,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve been able to hold them on third down and hold teams to punt.”
Jack Prka threw for three touchdowns in the first half, completing TD passes to Cameren Cope, Tanner Langley and Ethan Garitone.
Jack Dohm also returned a fumble for a touchdown for Coeur d’Alene, which led 41-0 at halftime.
Ammon Munyer caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Devon Suko in the third quarter for Lakeland (1-2), which hosts Lewiston next Friday.
Coeur d’Alene (2-0), after its second bye week of the season, returns to action at Lake City on Sept. 25 in a nonleague game.
Lakeland 0 0 7 0 — 7
Coeur d’Alene 21 20 0 7 — 48
First quarter
Cd’A — Trent Elstad 8 run (Eli Jolly kick)
Cd’A — Cameren Cope 11 pass from Jack Prka (Jolly kick)
Cd’A — Tanner Langley 52 pass from Prka (kick blocked)
Second quarter
Cd’A — Luke McLaughlin 83 fumble return (Jolly kick)
Cd’A — Ethan Garitone 10 pass from Prka (Jolly kick)
Cd’A — Jack Dohm 47 fumble return (Jolly kick)
Third quarter
LL — Ammon Munyer 4 pass from Devon Suko (Cody Carvajal kick)
Fourth quarter
Cd’A — Cope 35 pass from Brayden Bengston (Jolly kick)