Mullan’s Drager Collects Accolades In Final Year

John Drager is in his final year as football coach at Mullan High School, and the honors are just beginning to flow his way.

Drager, whose teams have won more than 200 games in football and more than 400 in basketball since 1965, will be honored next summer with a Distinguished Service award from the Idaho High School Activities Association. He will accept the award at the IHSAA’s annual Hall of Fame banquet in Boise.

“The Mullan football program has become a dynasty under Mr. Drager’s leadership,” Mullan superintendent Robin Stanley said. “The fact that Mullan is the smallest school in the league makes Mr. Drager’s successes even more impressive.”

Earlier this fall, school officials announced that the school’s football field would be renamed John Drager Field. The field will be formally dedicated during Mullan’s homecoming game Oct. 18.

Drager’s teams won back-to-back state titles in 1983 and 1984. Before the implementation of the playoffs, his teams finished ranked No. 1 in the polls in 1974 and 1975.

Drager is a lock to be named to the IHSAA Hall of Fame after he retires from teaching next year.

“It’s been a great run,” Drager said. “I’ve been awful lucky to have had a lot of great athletes.”

Viks victorious

The September record put up by the Coeur d’Alene High School volleyball team is amazing.

All of its matches were played on the road. And in the final week of the month, the Viks were a team without a practice facility.

CdA finished September 10-1 overall and in first place in the Inland Empire League at 4-0.

The Vikings will play their remaining league matches at home.

Coeur d’Alene coach Karla Mitchell may be young, but she’s already mastered the art of sandbagging.

She was bemoaning the fact that her team, beyond the return of its top three players, was really young. She didn’t see any chance of the Vikings winning the league title - especially with playing all of their matches on the road for the first month.

This much we do know about Mitchell: She was the best head coach hired at CdA when school officials were filling vacancies created with the opening of the new school.

Funny thing, too. Some folk around town thought school officials were stepping out on a limb by hiring Mitchell, who had no previous head coaching experience.

From this corner, some of the veteran coaches could learn a lot from watching Mitchell.

Record watch

Sandpoint running back Jeremy Thielbahr will add to his all-time career rushing mark every time he touches the ball.

Thielbahr, who, as it turns out, broke his own single-game record when he rambled for 326 yards against Borah two weeks ago, became the school’s all-time rusher, at 2,566 yards. He surpassed the previous mark of 2,554 set by Eric Becker (1986-88). His 257 yards against West Valley last week pushed his career mark to 2,811.

Bears lose QB

You may recall that the Moscow High football team lost four returning starters before the season started.

Now they’ve lost the player they probably could most ill afford to lose - senior quarterback Adam Miller.

Miller separated his right shoulder against Clarkston two weeks ago. He had surgery and is lost for the season.

The starting point guard for the State A-2 runner-up basketball team last year, Miller is expected to be out eight to 12 weeks in rehabilitation.

Last year, Miller, also the team’s placekicker, broke a thumb midway through the season in football.

Miller’s loss was never more painfully felt than last Friday when the Bears fell to Bonners Ferry 20-19. Moscow missed two point-after attempts.

“It’s too bad; we’re not a very deep team, although we have a lot of quality players,” Moscow coach Eric Bjorkman said. “But you can’t replace all the things that (Miller) does off the field.”

It was a huge win for Bonners Ferry, which has felt the affects of a $100 pay-to-play policy this fall because of hard economic times.

“We were outsized, outmanned. I don’t think many people thought a win was possible,” first-year coach Ted Reynolds said. “I think if the kids keep playing like they are we can be (in the playoff hunt).”

Running back Adam Hiatt returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and also rushed for 227 yards on 31 carries. He added an 85-yard TD run.

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