Viks open with impressive win
The quick read for the Coeur d’Alene High football team Friday can be summed up this way – better than expected.
At least defensively. To hear returning starting running back Gabe Le tell it, though, he anticipated his Vikings would break out of the blocks quickly when the 2004 high school season got under way Friday.
Le and backfield newcomer Kevin Ah-Hi combined for 279 yards rushing as Coeur d’Alene ran over, around and through the Flathead Braves of Kalispell, Mont., 34-7, in a season opener for both teams at Viking Field.
“I knew this would happen – from our offense especially,” said Le, whose 122 yards and 42-yard touchdown gallop were overshadowed by Ah-Hi, a junior who had a game-high 157 yards and TD sprints of 49 and 39 yards.
“We’re really seasoned this year,” Le added. “We were ready to go the first day of camp. We had a lot of young kids on offense last year. We’re going to do a lot of that (running) and we’ll switch it up and throw deep to some of our receivers. We have a lot of weapons.”
While Ah-Hi and Le romped up and down the field, a youthful Vikings defense that featured eight new starters gradually got its feet underneath it after allowing a touchdown early in the second quarter.
“Our defense got trucked a little early,” CdA coach Shawn Amos said. “But man did they step up after that. It was a good growing game for us. I thought they grew within the game.”
CdA’s first play of the game wasn’t the way Amos drew it up in the locker room, though. Returning starting quarterback Max Lyons underthrew his receiver and the Braves picked it off.
“You always try to get a read on your team and I was very interested after we threw the pick on the very first play to see how we’d respond,” Amos said. “That tells a lot more about your team. It’s easy to look good up 34-7.”
The interception was essentially the lone glitch, save for a few typical first-game penalties.
CdA wasted no time getting on the scoreboard on its second possession. The Viks marched 91 yards on nine plays, capped by a 2-yard sneak by Lyons.
Flathead evened the score at 7-7 when running back Scott Cassel found a huge hole in the middle of CdA’s defense on a 9-yard TD run off left tackle.
But the Viks scored three TDs in the final 10:14 of the first half to put the game away.
On the go-ahead drive, the Viks executed a fake dive beautifully on fourth-and-inches at the Flathead 42-yard line. While the middle of the Braves defense swarmed fullback Trevor Mongeau, Le scampered outside to go the distance as CdA went ahead 14-7 with 7:25 left before halftime.
Amos showed a new page in the Viks’ playbook with the wishbone, featuring Ah-Hi and Le as the halfbacks behind Mongeau, the fullback.
“With Ah-Hi and Le, you’ve got to get them on the field together because they’re both really good running backs,” Amos said. “It’s going to be a nice mix for us.”
CdA travels to East Valley next Friday in a game that’s being billed as the Clements Cup. The contest will honor the late Jim Clements, who coached at both EV and CdA. In his lone season at CdA in 1985, he coached the Viks to a state title. A portion of the gate receipts will go to the American Diabetes Association.
Elsewhere
Sandpoint scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, the first on a 68-yard run by Erik DeMers and the second on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Ben Mitchell, and cruised to a 27-6 non-league win over visiting Nampa. … Quarterback Joe Ploharz scored on an 8-yard run and passed for a pair of touchdowns, all in the first half, as Mullan rolled to a 46-0 non-league victory over visiting Post Falls Christian in a game called in the third quarter because of the 45-point mercy rule. … … Ben Felix scored on 78- and 61-yard runs in the second half to help St. Maries rally for a 28-13 non-league victory over visiting Wallace. Justin Keener’s 62-yard first-quarter gallop helped Wallace take a 7-6 halftime lead. … Raymond, Alberta, romped to a 33-7 win over visiting Bonners Ferry in the Badgers’ non-league opener.