THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Never kick? Fourth down just another play for Post Falls

If you're the Post Falls High football team, fourth down is not necessarily an automatic punting down — even if the Trojans are deep in their own territory.

Post Falls faced fourth down no less than seven times in last Saturday's 34-13 nonleague win over Lake City. The Trojans went for it five times — four of those times in their own territory.

TO REVIEW ...

On its first drive of the game, on fourth and 3 on its 31, the Post Falls punter tried to run for it, and was stopped a yard short. Lake City turned that into a touchdown six plays later.

On its next drive, Post Falls drove to the Lake City 4, where on fourth and goal the Trojans threw an incomplete pass.

Post Falls punted on its next drive — perhaps because it was fourth down and 22 on its own 47.

On their next drive, the Trojans actually got the first down on fourth and 8 from its own 40, but a holding penalty negated the play. A delay of game followed, and Post Falls settled for punting on fourth and 20 from its 28.

On its final drive of the half, the Trojans got "conservative", punting on fourth and 3 from their 31. But that came with less than a minute left in the half, so it made strategic sense — though Lake City drove all the way to the Post Falls 25 before throwing an interception in the end zone on the final play of the half, which ended with Lake City up 13-0.

In the third quarter, on its first drive of the second half, Post Falls went for it on fourth and 8 from its 45, but threw an incomplete pass.

Lake City threw an interception two plays later, and Post Falls got on the board with a TD seven plays later.

And finally, after Post Falls had taken a 14-13 lead on a pick-six, the Trojans got the ball back and faced a fourth and four on its own 48. Post Falls drew Lake City offside, scored three plays later for a 21-13 lead early in the fourth quarter, and never looked back.

"We didn't want to punt, but we had to (a couple times)," Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. "We want to be aggressive; we think that we have five or six receivers that can make some plays, and we have confidence in our quarterback. So that's always something in the back of our minds, that we want to be aggressive on fourth down."

Saturday's game between the 5A Inland Empire League schools didn't count in the league standings, as most teams in the league are playing each other twice this season, to make up for lost games when Washington pushed its fall sports season back to the spring.

Post Falls will play at Lake City on Oct. 9 in a game that will count in the league standings.

But Bennett said Saturday's game not counting in the standings didn't factor into his fourth-down decisions.

"People talk about league, nonleague. I don't get caught up in all that," Bennett said. "Every time you play, you want to win a game, and certainly when it's a team in our conference, that league and nonleague thing will shake out at the end. It's a big game when you line up and play (a league opponent)."

WANT TO go to a high school game but can't get in because of COVID-19 precautions? There's another option.

Lakeside High in Plummer, along with some other schools in North Idaho, has installed Pixellot cameras in its gym and at its football field, so fans who are unable to get to the games live — either because they can't get tickets, or just don't want the hassle with COVID-19 restrictions — can watch on their computer, through the NFHS Network.

Each player has the option to purchase four tickets to each game — which sometimes doesn't cover all the family members who would like to attend.

And while many schools are allowing a limited number of visiting fans to attend, Lakeside, for now, is not allowing any visiting fans to attend, citing an abundance of caution.

There's a fee to watch, but at least fans that want to see the games can still see them. And the schools are getting a portion of the fees, so fans can still support their school by firing up their computer.

"Since we're limiting the amount of fans, it's a great option," Lakeside volleyball coach Brad Veile said.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.