GRIDIRON GUESSES: Coeur d'Alene makes its football debut on its new artificial turf field
Last week, Coeur d’Alene knocked off top-ranked Rigby and reminded the rest of the state that the Vikings are still a program to be reckoned with in Idaho.
Tonight, the Vikings look to take down another ranked foe when No. 4 Rocky Mountain visits Coeur d’Alene for a 7 p.m. kickoff — the first varsity football game scheduled for the new artificial turf at Viking Field.
“We’ve got a ton to get better at,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said after the team's win against Rigby last Friday. “And it doesn’t get any easier against Rocky Mountain. But we’ll get back to work and clean some things up.”
While Coeur d’Alene was beating Rigby 27-21 in Missoula, Rocky was downing Middleton 31-21.
Scott Criner is back as Rocky head coach, after Chris Culig left to take over at Bishop Kelly.
Rocky leads the series with Coeur d’Alene 4-2.
Rocky has won the last four meetings with Coeur d’Alene, including a 30-7 triumph last year in Meridian. The other three wins were all in the playoffs.
Coeur d’Alene’s last win over Rocky was in 2012, at home in the state 5A quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, in Rathdrum, Lake City visits Lakeland in the debut of Byron Hout of Lake City as head coach at his alma mater.
Last year, Lakeland beat Lake City for the first time since 1994, ending a streak of 13 straight losses to the Timberwolves.
Until last year, Post Falls and Sandpoint had met every season for at least some four decades. That matchup resumes tonight at War Memorial Field in Sandpoint.
Last week in the season openers, Mark Nelke, Jason Elliott and Gridiron Guesses rookie Josh McDonald each went 4-1. Guessing we were all reminded which one we all missed.
HIGH SCHOOLS
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Rocky Mountain (1-0) at Coeur d’Alene (1-0), 7 p.m.
NELKE: The Vikings break in the new turf with another signature win.
Coeur d’Alene, 27-21
ELLIOTT: That Viking team that showed up in Missoula last week looked pretty focused and locked in. At home, on the new surface, they'll be again.
Coeur d'Alene, 30-20
McDONALD: One week ago we all picked against the Vikings. Both the defense and the offense were about as efficient as they could be until they gave up a couple of desperation scores in the fourth — I’m not making that mistake again.
Coeur d’Alene, 30-17
Post Falls (0-0) at Sandpoint (0-0), 7 p.m.
NELKE: Sandpoint lost several key players from last year, though some standouts return. And under the lights at Barlow Stadium is often a magical scene. Post Falls returns many from last year’s 5A Inland Empire League champs.
Post Falls, 26-24
ELLIOTT: Post Falls has a lot to prove, and the guys to do it.
Post Falls, 27-20
McDONALD: As far as the big schools go, this feels like the game of the week. Post Falls is returning a lot from last year’s 5A IEL championship squad, and Sandpoint has once again reloaded after graduating a talented 2022 roster. That being said, experience should prevail in this one.
Post Falls, 35-28
Timberlake (1-0) at South Fremont (0-1), 6 p.m. PDT
NELKE: The teams meet for the fourth straight year. South Fremont, which lost 12-7 to Wood River last week, won the first three meetings. After a long bus trip to eastern Idaho, Timberlake has a chance to break through tonight.
Timberlake, 35-7
ELLIOTT: Timberlake gets off the bus and gets a momentum-building win.
Timberlake, 28-17
McDONALD: Both teams had zero-week games, but the Tigers won theirs while South Fremont did not. Timberlake has to make the 7.5-hour drive to St. Anthony this time around albeit with a better team than the group that dropped last year’s matchup between the two schools.
Timberlake, 27-16
Melba (0-0) at St. Maries (0-0), 7 p.m.
NELKE: Melba finished 7-2 last year, losing to Aberdeen in the state 2A quarterfinals. The Mustangs were a late add to the St. Maries schedule, after Priest River opted to play a JV schedule in football.
Melba, 26-24
ELLIOTT: Never bet against a Lumberjack team against Melba, right?
St. Maries, 18-14
McDONALD: The Lumberjacks came on strong to finish last season in the playoffs, but they are also moving on from a lot of talent. Melba is coming to town with a lot of talent and experience which may be a little more than St. Maries is ready for at this point in the season.
Melba, 38-21
Moscow (0-0) at Kellogg (0-0), 7 p.m.
NELKE: Kellogg graduated two of the best athletes in school history in the Luna twins. Moscow was 0-8 last year.
Kellogg, 16-12
ELLIOTT: Moscow gives the Wildcats a game, but ...
Kellogg, 20-14
McDONALD: Kellogg’s roster is vastly different from the team that beat Moscow 50-12 a season ago. The Bears are returning quite a bit from that team, but will it be enough? I don’t think so.
Kellogg, 24-20
Kootenai (0-1, 0-1) at Clark Fork (0-1, 0-1), 7 p.m.
NELKE: Clark Fork gave Mullan/St. Regis all it could handle in the season opener before falling 20-6.
Clark Fork, 48-6
ELLIOTT: Kootenai is building. Clark Fork bounces back.
Clark Fork, 42-14
McDONALD: The Warriors struggled in their opener against Wallace and I think the Wampus Cats are still the second-best team in that league. Clark Fork will be looking to exercise some frustrations from last week’s loss to Mullan/St. Regis.
Clark Fork, 65-6
SATURDAY’S GAME
Logos (0-0) at Lakeside (0-0), 3 p.m.
NELKE: Logos, in just its second season of varsity football last year, finished 3-6, but returns nearly everyone. Lakeside was 2-6 last year.
Logos, 36-30
ELLIOTT: Lakeside gets a win in coach Jeremy Pruitt's home opener.
Lakeside, 34-30
McDONALD: Logos has one of the deepest rosters in North Idaho and they’re returning a ton of guys. I think the numbers game gets the better of the Knights.
Logos, 42-30
Mullan/St. Regis (1-0) at Superior (0-0), 6 p.m. PDT
NELKE: Superior was, uh, superior last year, after making the grueling 14-mile road trip to St. Regis to play the Tigers/Tigers.
Superior, 36-28
ELLIOTT: This is a rivalry game for half of the Tigers/Tigers co-op.
Mullan/St. Regis, 24-20
McDONALD: The combined Tigers from Mullan/St. Regis will have their first real test of the season against a Superior team that beat them 50-32 in St. Regis. Mullan looked good defensively last week against Clark Fork, they’ll need that plus a heavy dose of offense if they want to go 2-0.
Mullan/St. Regis, 36-30
