Coeur d'Alene High to honor Vikings 1982 state football champions

The Coeur d’Alene Vikings won the first of five state titles in the Vikings’ storied football history in 1982.

Tonight, celebrating the 40th anniversary of that first state title, Coeur d’Alene High will honor that 1982 football team at halftime of the Vikings’ game vs. Woodinville, Wash., at Viking Field.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The 1982 Vikings completed a 12-0 season by trouncing Twin Falls 55-13 in the state title game.

The coach was Herb Criner, who was hired in 1980 from California to help take the Vikings’ program to the next level.

"I said to the players, when I met 'em up there in 1980, that if we stick together and do all the things (the coaches say to do), we'll be state champs," Criner said back in 2013, when the Vikings were honored as a “Legends” team by the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. "And, lo and behold, the kids bought into what we were doing."

Criner passed away in 2016.

The 1982 Vikings outscored their opponents 338-108, with four shutouts.

In the title game, Coeur d’Alene racked up 526 yards, including 347 through the air. Steve Halliday passed for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and Scott Wellman threw for one score. Scott Shellman ran for three touchdowns. Mike Cox threw a halfback pass for a TD, and returned a fumble for another score. Don Leonard, Tim Sperber, Dan Hannon and Kurt Lundblad caught touchdown passes.