THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Not your typical year in Idaho high school football

So Coeur d’Alene beat Sandpoint.

Sandpoint beat Lakeland.

Lakeland beat Post Falls.

Post Falls beat Coeur d’Alene.

And on and on.

That might tell you all you need to know about high school football in North Idaho this fall.

THE REGULAR season comes to a close this weekend.

But usually in the 5A Inland Empire League, there is still a lot of unknowns heading into the third and final week of league games.

And there is often the threat of a Kansas tiebreaker, which happened last year when Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston and Post Falls all shared the 5A IEL title.

But this year, Post Falls, which won its first two league games, has already wrapped up a first-round playoff bye, and will host a state quarterfinal game in two weeks.

Coeur d’Alene (4-4, 1-1 5A IEL), which has made the playoffs each of the past 13 seasons, travels to Lewiston (6-2, 1-1) on Friday, with the winner earning the North’s second berth to state, and the loser done for the season.

Neither team has a shot at the two at-large berths to the 5A playoffs, which are awarded based on records against other 5A schools, or similar-sized schools in other states (Coeur d'Alene is 2-4, Lewiston 2-2), the scheduling of which could be a discussion for another day.

HOW WEIRD is that?

Post Falls, the team that lost to Lakeland, which lost big to Sandpoint, which lost to Coeur d’Alene, is poised to win its first outright league title since 1995, when all the Inland Empire League teams were in A-1 Division II (what is now called 4A). There were no A-1 Division I teams in North Idaho that year.

The Trojans wrapped up a playoff berth last week with a 21-6 win over Coeur d’Alene.

“That’s the most important win,” Post Falls senior defensive lineman Trevor Miller said, “because now we go play against Lake City, then we have a bye week, and then we’re playing in the playoffs. Looking forward to it.”

It was the second year in a row Post Falls defeated Coeur d’Alene, last year winning at Viking Field.

This year was one of the few years in recent memory where Post Falls was the “favored” team against Coeur d’Alene. And the Trojans (6-2) will be the “favorite” to win at Lake City (2-6, 0-2 IEL) on Friday and nab their first outright league title in 27 seasons.

“It’s definitely new for Post Falls,” Miller said. “But we worked hard in the offseason, and I think the atmosphere’s changing. We want to be the team on top. Every day, we’re working to change the tradition around here. The family atmosphere, it’s growing tremendously. Our senior class is doing a good job guiding the younger guys to hopefully keep this tradition going.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.