THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Rivalries and ... who’s on first? What? What’s in a different league

It’s been a few years since Coeur d’Alene vs. Lake City in football has had this kind of intrigue. 

The city rivals meet Friday at 7 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene High, in the 6A (not the 5A anymore) Inland Empire League opener for both teams.  

Both teams enter the game with 4-2 records. The natural reaction to that is, “Yeah, but Coeur d’Alene has played a much tougher schedule.” 

Tougher? Yes. But not by as much as you’d think. 

Coeur d’Alene’s six opponents are a combined 21-15. Lake City’s six opponents are a combined 18-18. 

Coeur d’Alene has played just one team with a losing record (Sandpoint, 3-4). And the Bulldogs were 3-2 before the Viks beat them two weeks ago, and Lake City defeated them last week. 

Counting Sandpoint, Lake City has played three teams with losing records — and the lone win for Wenatchee (1-4) came over Eisenhower (1-4), a team the Timberwolves also beat. 

Lake City nearly upset reigning 5A (now in 6A) state champion Highland of Pocatello. The Rams were undefeated until losing last week to Rigby, whom Coeur d’Alene beat in the opener. 

Rigby has won three of the last five state titles in Idaho, and Camas, which won 38-21 at Coeur d’Alene last week, is one of the top teams in Washington. 

COEUR d’ALENE HAS dominated the rivalry of late, winning 16 of the last 17 meetings. Lake City’s lone win during that stretch came in 2014.  

The Vikings’ first win in this run came in the 2009 state quarterfinals, which was Coeur d’Alene’s first win at Lake City since 1995 — the Timberwolves’ second year as a program. 

2009, of course, was the first of 13 straight trips to the playoffs for Coeur d’Alene. Lake City’s last playoff appearance was 2019. 

Now that the 6A IEL is down to three teams, each league game takes on added meaning — almost a “win and you’re in” type of thing (unless, of course, the three teams beat each other, then we are blessed with a Kansas Tiebreaker).  

Coeur d’Alene travels to Post Falls next week for its other 6A IEL game, and Post Falls visits Lake City the following week. 

Two of the three teams automatically qualify for the 12-team state playoffs, and the third could get in based on MaxPreps ranking. 

Friday’s game could come down to whether Lake City can slow down Coeur d’Alene’s offense, and if the Timberwolves can control the ball (and the clock) with its ground game against the Vikings. 

Lake City is allowing just 12.3 points per game, while Coeur d’Alene is scoring 27.1 per game. 

WITH THE new classifications this year, there’s been more of a few “Oh yeah, that’s not a league game anymore” or “Oh yeah, that’s a league game now.” 

The obvious one is Lewiston, which was in the same league with Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Post Falls for some two decades before the new classification boundaries dropped the Bengals down a division. 

Now, some of their games against those three schools are league games, in some sports — but not in football. 

The 5A IEL in football, with Lewiston, Lakeland and Sandpoint, just got real interesting, with the league getting only one automatic berth to the 16-team state playoffs — the other two will be in the mix for the eight at-large berths, based on MaxPreps rankings. 

Ditto the 4A IEL in football, with Moscow petitioning down a classification in football only. Only the league champion is guaranteed a berth in the 12-team playoffs — again, the others can get in with a good MaxPreps ranking. 

Soccer is an interesting study, with Lewiston now in the 5A IEL and Post Falls petitioning down from 6A in boys and girls soccer. 

That takes a tiny three-team league and makes in a five-team league. 

In boys soccer, Post Falls earned the second seed to regionals, and will host third seed Moscow in a semifinal game Saturday. 

Lewiston was the fifth seed, winning at No. 4 Lakeland on Tuesday in a first-round game. 

Sandpoint is the top seed; the Bulldogs and Moscow have battled for the region’s lone bid to state for several years. Now, there’s 1.5 berths to state from the North, in boys and girls soccer. 

In girls soccer, Lewiston won the combined 6A/5A IEL for a second straight season, and Post Falls was the fifth seed. Moscow, Sandpoint and Lakeland are the 2-4 seeds. 

As with the boys, Sandpoint and Moscow have squared off for the region’s lone bid to state in girls soccer for years. Now, barring an upset, one of those three (Lewiston, Sandpoint or Moscow) will stay home from state, and one of them will need to go the state play-in route. 

AND THEN there’s the small schools. 

In football, Lakeside, Wallace and Clark Fork petitioned down, and join Coeur du Christ in the North Star League, vying for berths in the state 1A playoffs. 

But in volleyball (and basketball), Lakeside, Wallace and Clark Fork are in the 2A Scenic Idaho Conference, along with Genesis Prep, which does not offer football ... yet. 

Meanwhile Coeur du Christ, a 1A school, is in North Star volleyball league with Kootenai and Mullan, and will be in basketball as well. Kootenai (St. Maries) and Mullan (St. Regis) are both in co-ops in football, leaving the first-year Saints as the only true 1A football team in the North. 

Confused? If you need a cheat sheet just to keep track of all this, you’re not alone. 

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 X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.