GRIDIRON GUESSES: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose ... and sometimes you just forget

By Press Staff

“Who did you pick in the Lake City-Lakeland game?”

We got that question a few times last Friday night, with the two teams meeting in Rathdrum.

It seemed a puzzling question at the time — didn’t you read the paper?

Then it dawned on us — we had forgotten to list that game among our picks in Gridiron Guesses.

No reason why.

No ulterior motive.

In copying the list of last week’s football games from one file to another, that game somehow disappeared.

Fumbled away, as it were.

But if we had picked the game like we should have, Mark Nelke, Jason Elliott and Guesses rookie Josh McDonald would have all picked …

Ah, it doesn’t matter now.

So, sorry ‘bout that.

This week, the picks run a day early, with Wallace and Lakeside scheduled to meet tonight on the artificial turf (which is starting to become a THING around here) at the Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley.

On Friday, 5A Coeur d’Alene takes on one of the top 4A teams in the state in Sandpoint. Since the teams resumed their long-running series in 2020 after an eight-year hiatus, Coeur d’Alene has won all three meetings, including 24-22 at Sandpoint in 2021.

Sandpoint last beat Coeur d’Alene in 2008.

Also Friday, Lake City coach Byron Hout coaches a game on the field where he made his name as a Timberwolf defensive standout nearly two decades ago, when the T-Wolves play host to North Central of the Greater Spokane League.

(Nearly two decades ago. My, doesn’t that make us feel old?)

Post Falls, coming off a 41-21 win at Sandpoint, makes the second of three straight road trips this week, traveling to Boise to play Timberline at Dona Larsen Park.

Post Falls beat Timberline 34-6 at home last year.

On Friday in Rathdrum, Lakeland and Pullman meet for the first time since 2015.

Kootenai had to cancel tonight’s game at Deary due a shortage of players. Last week, the Warriors’ game at Clark Fork was called in the second quarter due to injuries on the Kootenai side.

As for the picks, Josh went 6-2 and is 10-3 on the season. Mark went 5-3 and is 9-4 overall, and Jason went 4-4 and is 8-5.

HIGH SCHOOL

THURSDAY’S GAME

Wallace (1-0, 1-0 North Star League) vs. Lakeside (0-1) at Marimn Health Coeur Center, Worley, 7 p.m.

NELKE: The two 1A Division I teams meet in a 1A Division II North Star League game.

Wallace, 36-18

ELLIOTT: Wallace just finds a way to wear down Lakeside late.

Wallace, 36-22

McDONALD: The Miners' offense looked capable during their season-opening win at Kootenai. With a week off and more practice, they should be able to move the ball on the Knights. The question comes down to Lakeside's offense, which struggled mightily last week against Logos.

Wallace, 28-22

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Coeur d’Alene (1-1) at Sandpoint (0-1), 7 p.m.

NELKE: Coeur d’Alene handled two-time defending state 5A champion Rigby before settling for a 27-21 win two weeks ago in Missoula. Then the Vikings struggled offensively last week in a 16-0 loss to Rocky Mountain, while Rigby got smacked around 45-13 by Lehi (Utah) at the Rocky Mountain Rumble. So go figure …

Coeur d’Alene, 24-22

ELLIOTT: Coeur d'Alene plays its third straight game on turf if that matters. The Vikings will be ready to go again.

Coeur d'Alene, 33-20

MCDONALD: This will be high school football at its best. There's a good chance that the Bulldogs control most of this game, but the Vikings have big play guys on both sides of the ball — they will be the difference makeers down the stretch.

Coeur d'Alene, 28-24

North Central (0-0) at Lake City (0-1), 7 p.m.

NELKE: North Central is coming off an 0-8 season. Lake City was a missed two-point conversion away from upending Lakeland last week.

Lake City, 18-12

ELLIOTT: Lake City might have found something on offense in the final minutes at Lakeland last Friday.

Lake City, 24-16

McDONALD: The visiting Wolfpack is going to give the upstart Timberwolves a run for their money, but Byron Hout’s team is going to get comfortable with his new system sooner rather than later, so why not in game two?

Lake City, 21-20

Post Falls (1-0) vs. Timberline (0-2) at Dona Larsen Park, Boise, 6 p.m. PDT

NELKE: The Wolves of Boise gave up a combined 82 points in losses to Borah and Boise to open the season. Post Falls scored 41 in winning its opener last week at Sandpoint.

Post Falls, 41-20

ELLIOTT: Post Falls sure flipped a battle with Sandpoint in the second half last week. A faster start will be needed this week.

Post Falls, 38-20

McDONALD: The Trojans have a potent offense and Timberline has allowed both of their previous opponents to score at least 40 points. Even after the long trip to Boise, Post Falls should start fast and cruise to 2-0.

Post Falls, 35-18

Pullman (0-0) at Lakeland (2-0), 7 p.m.

NELKE: The Greyhounds are coming off a 4-5 season. The Hawks have two games under their belt.

Lakeland, 27-13

ELLIOTT: We still might be a week away from figuring out just how good this Lakeland team really is. As for Friday ...

Lakeland, 16-13

McDONALD: The Hawks are still figuring out the offense, which is fine because their defense is more than capable of giving them an edge against a team that is playing its first game of the season.

Lakeland, 30-24

St. Maries (0-1) at Riverside (0-0), 7 p.m.

NELKE: Riverside finished 5-6 last year, beginning with a 13-6 win at St. Maries in the opener. The Lumberjacks were anything but toast against Melba in their opener.

St. Maries, 22-14

ELLIOTT: St. Maries gets back on track this week.

St. Maries, 24-14

McDONALD: The Lumberjacks struggled in their season opener, this week they're on the road against a tough Rams team that returned several players from last year’s playoff team.

Riverside, 27-18

North Fremont (1-0) at Kellogg (0-1), all 7 p.m.;

NELKE: The Huskies opened with a 28-6 victory last week at Bear Lake, the preseason No. 1 in 2A in the statewide media poll. Kellogg lost 34-0 to a Moscow team that finished 0-9 last year.

North Fremont, 28-6

ELLIOTT: North Fremont shows why its maybe a little underrated.

North Fremont, 35-20

McDONALD: The Wildcats were a net negative offensively last week against an improved Moscow team. North Fremont handled the defending 2A champs from Bear Lake — it’s an important game for Kellogg, but they have to prove that they can move the ball.

North Fremont, 28-14

Timberlake (2-0) at Shadle Park (0-0), 4 p.m.

NELKE: The Tigers were hoping to play this game at home, but the Highlanders are unable to travel outside the school district this year. They were hoping to play the game at Spokane’s new downtown stadium, but it won’t be finished for another few weeks. So they meet at Shadle in the late afternoon (no lights at Shadle’s field) for a second straight year. The good news — the expected high in Spokane on Friday is 80 degrees. Last year, it was pushing 100.

Timberlake, 36-14

ELLIOTT: Timberlake's a team on a mission this year.

Timberlake, 42-20

McDONALD: We’ve seen this before from the Tigers – when they get rolling, they are tough to beat. And through two weeks, they’ve been rolling.

Timberlake, 30-17