Gridiron Guesses: When neither team is the "home" team

By MARK NELKE

and JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writers

What goes into a neutral-site game?

In August, Lakeland and Preston met halfway, at Montana Tech in Butte, to open their seasons.

Tonight, Post Falls and Mount Si will play at 7 p.m. at Lions Field in Moses Lake.

For Mount Si, it's a roughly 150-mile trip from Snoqualmie, Wash., to Moses Lake. For Post Falls, it's roughly 130 miles.

Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said he likes his teams to play on college campuses whenever possible, so playing at Central Washington University in Ellensburg was considered.

"Central was an option, but we thought Moses Lake was a better spot in between, and Moses Lake always does a good job hosting those games," Bennett said. "It’s a nice turf field, more halfway."

Just a few weeks ago, Moses Lake replaced its 15-year-old synthetic turf at Lions Field with new FieldTurf.

With the Moses Lake football team on the road tonight (at Lake City, as it turns out), Moses Lake was able to host the game.

"They (the two schools) are renting the stadium to be able to meet in the middle, and we are all sharing duties to pull off the event," Moses Lake School District athletic director Loren Sandhop said. "Much like we'd do for post-season events."

Normally, nearby officials from the Columbia Basin would be used, but all officials were booked (there's a ref shortage, in case you hadn't heard). However, Post Falls athletic director Craig Christensen was able to line up officials from North Idaho.

Sandhop said Moses Lake has hosted "countless" WIAA playoff events at Lions Field since the turf was put in 15 years ago — and they don't mind.

"We are centrally located and it's a great facility," Sandhop said. "It's a win-win situation, so the competing schools can meet in a central spot with a great facility and great for our community hosting events that bring revenue into our town."

The lone remaining football game in Kootenai County this weekend is the aforementioned Moses Lake at Lake City tilt, tonight at 7.

Coeur d'Alene returns this week after having not one, but two, teams cancel on the Vikings last week for COVID-19 reasons. Coeur d'Alene travels to Bothell, Wash., on Saturday to play North Creek.

Timberlake kicked the weekend off Thursday night, hosting Colville (Wash.) after Connell (Wash.) had to cancel for COVID-19 reasons.

As for the picks, Mark went 5-2, Jason 4-3, and after four weeks, are tied at 13-9 overall.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Moses Lake (0-2) at Lake City (1-1), 7 p.m.

NELKE: Moses Lake played two quarterbacks and showed some signs against Post Falls in a 42-26 loss last week, but the Chiefs were inconsistent. Lake City is coming off a long bus trip and a Saturday afternoon 40-point loss to Garfield in Seattle.

Lake City, 22-20

ELLIOTT: Lake City should be fired up for its home opener.

Lake City, 26-24

Post Falls (1-2) vs. Mount Si (1-1), at Moses Lake, 7 p.m.

NELKE: Who knows? Post Falls finally found some offense last week, and perhaps the Trojans will be "fresher" after the "shorter" trip.

Post Falls, 28-26

ELLIOTT: Post Falls finds a way to win it late.

Post Falls, 35-33

Lakeland (2-2) at St. Maries (0-3), 7 p.m.

NELKE: Curt Carr, former St. Maries football coach and more recently a retired Lakeland administrator, is back with St. Maries as an assistant coach. There was a time, when Carr was first with the Lumberjacks, when St. Maries vs. Lakeland was a game for the Intermountain League title. These are not those times. Lakeland is now a 4A school and playing well the past couple weeks, and St. Maries is 2A and struggling a bit this season.

Lakeland, 36-6

ELLIOTT: Seems like Lakeland has things rolling in the right direction after four games.

Lakeland, 42-12

Clark Fork (2-0) at Lakeside (1-2), 7 p.m.

NELKE: If Lakeside is at full strength, this could be a good game. The Knights were shorthanded in last week's game at Mullan.

Clark Fork, 42-22

ELLIOTT: Once Lakeside fell behind early last week, it just went downhill from there. Chances are, it doesn't happen again this week.

Lakeside, 38-34

SATURDAY'S GAME

Coeur d’Alene (1-1) at North Creek (2-0), Bothell, Wash., 3 p.m.

NELKE: Coeur d'Alene is facing its third tough opponent in as many games. North Creek is averaging 46.5 points in its two wins. Again, who knows?

Coeur d'Alene, 30-28

ELLIOTT: I imagine the Vikings fired up to be hitting someone other than themselves after having their game canceled last week.

Coeur d'Alene, 34-30