Lakeland’s Rivalries Most Often Matter

The Intermountain League has some well-established football rivalries. The three top rivalries are, in no particular order, Moscow-Lakeland, St. Maries-Lakeland, Bonners Ferry-Lakeland.

Notice a pattern? Lakeland is several teams’ nemesis.

Lakeland (0-2 overall) opens IML play tonight when it visits Kellogg (3-0), ranked fifth in this week’s A-2 prep poll.

A Lakeland-Kellogg game hasn’t exactly registered on the meter of must-see league games over the years - particularly because Kellogg has spent most years near the bottom of the league.

But if second-year Kellogg coach Shawn Amos has his way, the annual league opener will become key to both teams’ hopes of earning a state playoff berth.

Kickoff at Teeters Field - and at most contests in the Panhandle - is at 7:30 p.m.

In other games, Coeur d’Alene (0-2) goes to Deer Park (0-1), north of Spokane; Lake City (1-1) takes on East Valley (1-0) at Central Valley; West Valley (0-1) is at Post Falls (2-0); and Borah (1-2) of Boise visits Sandpoint (2-0) in a game moved up a halfhour to 7.

Elsewhere, Priest River (2-1) goes to St. Maries (1-1) in another IML opener; Wallace (1-2) visits Bonners Ferry (0-2); Colton (1-0) is at Lakeside (2-1); and in a pair of North Star League games, Mullan (3-0) is at Clark Fork (1-1) and Kootenai (0-2) visits Falls Christian (0-2). Both contests begin at 3:30.

In the annual Shriners Doubleheader at the Kibbie Dome, Lewiston (2-0) takes on Pullman (1-0) at 5, followed by Moscow (0-2) meeting Clarkston (1-0) at 8:30.

Lakeland at Kellogg

The game is clouded with several unanswered questions.

We’ll get to the questions about strengths and weaknesses in a moment. First a medical report.

Kellogg standout running back Josh Easley re-sprained an ankle in practice Monday after scoring 10 touchdowns in the Wildcats’ opening three victories.

Lakeland, meanwhile, has lost starting offensive and defensive tackle Levi Cushman, a sophomore, for the season to mononucleosis. That may not be the worst of it, reports Lakeland coach Terry Kiefer.

“We’ve got six or seven other kids, all starters, who are showing signs of it,” Kiefer said.

And most of those players play strictly defense.

Still, neither Amos nor Kiefer was offering excuses.

“If Josh (Easley) can’t go we’ll have to make some adjustments,” Amos said. “But Josh is telling me he’s playing. He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached.”

Lakeland opened tough against A-1 teams Post Falls and Sandpoint. The young Hawks were manhandled by both teams, but Kiefer sees hope.

“I feel like we’ve made more progress this week than any week this season,” Kiefer said. “We’ve been trying to correct some of our errors. We know it’s going to take us a while before we iron things out. Whether we have a lot of the problems cleared up Friday remains to be seen.”

Amos realizes his team hasn’t played the most difficult pre-league schedule.

“Lakeland is by far the best team we have played so far,” Amos said. “It’s our first real test. But I think it’s anybody’s ballgame. I don’t think any team is a clear favorite. It’s a critical game for us in trying to go to the next level.”

, DataTimes