THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Pay attention to Lakeland in football, too

Maybe don’t hand the 4A Inland Empire League football championship to the Sandpoint Bulldogs just yet.

The Lakeland Hawks might want to have a say in this.

Sure, Sandpoint is coming off a runner-up finish in last year’s state 4A playoffs, and is bringing back a good chunk of that talent.

But Lakeland has opened some eyes with its impressive 2-0 start — a 28-0 domination of Preston in the season opener, followed by the Hawks’ first victory over Lake City since 1994, a 30-21 triumph on the home field of the 5A Timberwolves.

“Sandpoint better look out; we’re coming for them,” said Lakeland senior running back John Cornish, who rushed for more than 100 yards in both victories this season, and has scored six touchdowns in two games.

When Sandpoint and Lakeland collide later this season, Oct. 7 in Rathdrum, it will likely be for the league title, and a better seed in the 16-team state 4A playoffs.

Sandpoint has beaten Lakeland each of the last five years, and in six of the last seven.

Asked if folks need to pay attention to the Hawks as well this season, first-year Lakeland coach Mike Schroeder replied, “Well, we’re going to make sure everybody has to pack a lunch for us, yes.”

CRAZY FACT of the day, per a reader:

Since 2017, only four teams have played in the state 5A title game in football — Rigby, Rocky Mountain, Highland … and Coeur d’Alene.

Highland beat Coeur d’Alene in 2017 at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Rocky beat Highland in 2018, Rigby beat Coeur d’Alene in that epic double-overtime game at the Kibbie Dome in 2019, Rocky beat Rigby at Madison High in Rexburg in 2020 (a game moved out of Holt due to COVID-19), and Rigby beat Highland in 2021, back at Holt.

The last time anyone out side the “Big Four” played for the state 5A title was in 2016, when Mountain View beat Capital at Albertsons Stadium in Boise.

FOR THE second straight year, ladies on the Epson Tour said they liked playing at Circling Raven Golf Club — just as much as seeing the sights in the Coeur d’Alene area and beyond.

Jillian Hollis, who won the Circling Raven Championship on Sunday at Circling Raven in Worley, said her group went into Coeur d’Alene twice during her stay here, including a Saturday night dinner at Crafted in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

She’s in the field for this week’s stop on the Epson Tour, the inaugural Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic in Pendleton, Ore. But first, Hollis said Sunday she planned to stay in the Coeur d’Alene area for one more day — perhaps on a boat, perhaps on a hike.

Like many of the players, Hollis stayed at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, perhaps a par-5 from the golf course.

But one place she said she hadn’t been — the casino at the hotel.

Probably a good thing for someone who was presented with a first-place check for $30,000 on Sunday afternoon.

“I think I’d rather throw dollars into the trash can, with my luck on the slot machines,” Hollis said with a laugh.

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.