GRIDIRON GUESSES Oct. 27, 2023: Post Falls, Lakeland, Timberlake start playoff road this week
Gridiron Guesses 2023.
By Press staff
The ankle of Post Falls running back Tevin Burns, the overall health of the Lakeland Hawks and the balanced offense of the Timberlake Tigers highlight the opening week of the Idaho high school football playoffs.
Burns has rushed for 1,468 yards and 20 touchdowns this season for Post Falls (6-3), which plays host to Mountain View (6-3) of Meridian in the first round tonight at 7 p.m.
But he was pulled after the first couple series of last Thursday’s game win over Lake City with an ankle injury suffered the week before vs. Coeur d’Alene.
“We need him,” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said.
If Burns can’t go — or finish — the Trojans have a pretty good backup in junior Devin Burton. And if Post Falls has to go to the air, the Trojans have Isaac McKeown (1,425 yards, 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, Alex Shields (eight TD receptions) and Asher Bowie (five TD catches).
In other playoff openers involving local teams, 13th seed Lakeland (5-4) plays at No. 4 Twin Falls (8-1) tonight at 6 PDT in a 4A first-round matchup
And on Saturday, Timberlake (5-4) plays host to American Falls (3-6) in a 3A first-round game at 1 p.m.
Coeur d'Alene (7-2) has a first-round bye in 5A, and will play host to either Rocky Mountain or Borah next week in the quarterfinals.
Mullan/St. Regis (8-1) has a first-round bye in 1A Division II, and will host a quarterfinal game next week.
Post Falls is in the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons. The Trojans are 1-5 over that stretch, with five of those games at home.
Justin McGee, Mountain View’s top passer (695 yards, six TDs, three interceptions) and rusher (414 yards, five TDs) — both in just five games — is injured. Henry Nelson is the Mavericks’ QB.
Mountain View beat Meridian (31-26) and Rocky Mountain (24-14) in its first two games, and lost 28-14 at Eagle, the 5A Southern Idaho Conference’s top seed, three weeks ago.
Lakeland lost its first two quarterbacks to injury earlier this season, and has been playing sophomore Peyton Hillman since the Coeur d'Alene game. Jace Taylor, who started at QB in the second game of the season, has returned, playing wide receiver, where he started the season.
And the Hawks have been shorthanded at running back and receivers for parts of the season.
"We’re a little less predictable than we’ve been in the last couple of weeks," second-year Lakeland coach Mike Schroeder said. "We're doing a variety of West Coast stuff all over the field. Hopefully, we've got some younger players that aren't so young anymore and that will play dividends."
Twin Falls’ lone loss was the Pocatello, the third seed in 4A, 20-7 in early September.
Lakeland is in the playoffs for the fourth straight season, looking for its first postseason win since 2007. In each of the last three years, the Hawks headed to eastern Idaho in the first round — they lost 20-14 at Pocatello last year, fell 42-21 to Skyline in 2021 at Holt Arena in Pocatello, in a game that got away from Lakeland late, and were beaten 17-14 by Century of Pocatello in 2020.
Timberlake had snow on its field earlier this week — nothing new in Spirit Lake during the playoffs.
But what is new is the Tigers, primarily a running team for most of their existence, can throw it as well as run it this year.
Cole Meidinger has passed for 1,397 yards, 12 TDs and eight interceptions for Timberlake. Jacob Yetter (65 catches, 990 yards, eight TDs) is the school’s career leader in receptions and receiving yards.
And the ground game is led by Cooper Lenz (791 yards, 11 TDs), Caius Tebbe (650 yards, 9 TDs) and Vaughn Higgins (496 yards, 8 TDs).
“Offensively, we are pretty effective (running and passing),” Timberlake coach Kelly Amos said.
Timberlake is in the playoffs for the 20th time in 21 seasons, and is playing at home for the first time since 2019.
The last two years, the Tigers lost one-score games at Gooding and Weiser.
“Great to finally have a home playoff game at our house,” Amos said. “It’s been a few years. The last few years we’ve traveled well against some pretty good teams.”
As for the picks, Jason Elliott, Mark Nelke and Josh McDonald all went 8-0. Overall, Jason is 54-20, Mark 53-21, Josh 50-24
HIGH SCHOOLS
FRIDAY’S GAMES
State 5A playoffs, first round, Mountain View (6-3) at Post Falls (6-3), 7 p.m.
NELKE: The winner travels next week to Meridian, which lost to Eagle in last week’s 5A SIC title game. That should be the Trojans.
Post Falls, 28-21
ELLIOTT: Post Falls has a ground game that could be tough to stop, no matter what the weather is doing.
Post Falls, 34-30
McDONALD: The Trojans have been pretty good at home this year — Mountain View has been good on the road. If Post Falls can get its potent rushing attack going the Trojans should be able to get the win.
Post Falls, 35-24
State 4A playoffs, first round, Lakeland (5-4) at Twin Falls (8-1), 6 p.m. PDT
NELKE: Lakeland has been a tough out the past few years in the playoffs. Health aside, the Hawks should be in this one to the end as well.
Twin Falls, 24-17
ELLIOTT: Lakeland needs a lot of things to fall into place tonight.
Twin Falls, 28-20
McDONALD: Twin Falls can score, like a lot. Lakeland may be back to full strength, but I’m not sure its defense can stop the Bruins.
Twin Falls, 35-18
SATURDAY’S GAME
State 3A playoffs, first round, American Falls (3-6) at Timberlake (5-4), 1 p.m.
NELKE: After winning three straight games in the middle of the season, the Beavers roll into Spirit Lake on a four-game losing streak.
Timberlake, 48-18
ELLIOTT: With the blanket of snow on the field, Timberlake gets a big win.
Timberlake, 38-20
McDONALD: The Tigers’ opening-round playoff game might be the easiest game that they’ve played in a few weeks.
Timberlake, 35-14
STANDINGS
5A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Coeur d’Alene 3 0 7 2
Post Falls 2 1 6 3
Lewiston 1 2 4 5
Lake City 0 3 2 7
Friday’s Game
Mountain View at Post Falls
Nov. 3-4
Borah-Rocky Mountain winner at Coeur d’Alene
4A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Sandpoint 2 0 6 3
Lakeland 1 1 5 4
Moscow 0 2 1 7
Friday’s Games
Lakeland at Twin Falls
Bonneville at Sandpoint
INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Timberlake 1 0 5 4
Bonners Ferry 0 1 3 6
Saturday’s Game
American Falls at Timberlake
CENTRAL IDAHO LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Grangeville 3 0 4 3
St. Maries 2 1 3 5
Kellogg 1 2 3 6
Orofino 0 3 0 7
Nov. 3-4
Grangeville vs. TBA
Priest River is playing a JV-only schedule in football this year
NORTH STAR LEAGUE
League Overall
W L W L
Mullan/St. Regis 7 0 8 1
Clark Fork 4 3 4 3
Lakeside 2 4 3 6
Wallace 2 5 3 5
*Kootenai 0 3 0 4
Friday’s Game
Garden Valley at Clark Fork
Nov. 3-4
Mackay-Hagerman winner at Mullan/St. Regis
*Kootenai canceled its season, citing low numbers, in late September