Vikings bounce back

The Coeur d’Alene High football team finally found a way to win.

Lakeland, meanwhile, found a way to lose.

Special teams were the difference as the Vikings snapped a three-game losing streak by holding off the Hawks 24-17 in a 5A/4A Inland Empire League game Friday at Corbit Field in Rathdrum.

Coeur d’Alene (2-3) rode the momentum of a game-opening kickoff return and a blocked punt early in the third quarter to stymie the Hawks (2-3).

Vikings junior Bubba Goodwin returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 21-yard field goal by Robby Astin later in the first period allowed CdA to build a 10-0 lead going into the second quarter.

Lakeland rebounded to score two TDs in the second period as the Hawks took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

A blocked punt by Justin Knight, who sprinted untouched around the right side of Lakeland’s front, set the Vikings up at the Hawks’ 20-yard line at the 10:39 mark of the third quarter. Three plays later, the Vikings regained the lead for good when junior quarterback J.J. Turbin dumped a shovel pass to senior running back Matt Conger, who then sprinted 17 yards into the end zone. Astin’s point-after kick put CdA ahead 17-14.

CdA found a way to overcome three lost fumbles and 11 penalties.

“We don’t make it easy,” CdA coach Shawn Amos said. “We continue to put the ball on the ground in critical times. I don’t know when we’re going to figure it out. I hope soon. The kids found a way to win – that’s the bottom line. We needed that win.”

Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer thought his team was its own worst enemy at times.

“Take away special teams errors and I think we beat them,” Kiefer said.

Whether CdA has righted its ship after five games remains to be seen – especially with a 5A conference opener next Friday at defending state champion Lake City (4-0).

The Vikings wanted to use their game at Lakeland as a springboard into the showdown at LC. But they continued to make the type of mistakes that haunted them the last three weeks.

Amos said he couldn’t share specifically what he told his team at halftime.

“I don’t think you can put that in the (newspaper),” Amos said. “We rallied the troops and they responded. We just don’t sustain (drives). We come out and we play in spurts still. We look really good for a while and then we do something stupid to ourselves – fumbles and whatever. At times we look like a pretty good football team. Sustaining it for four quarters … we haven’t done that yet in any game.”

After finding themselves in the 10-0 hole, the Hawks used TD runs by Blake Reese (3 yards) and Shawn Hiebert (41) to seize momentum in the second quarter.

But after the Hawks botched their punt-blocking assignments early in the second half that allowed CdA to punch in an easy score, they couldn’t put together another TD drive.

Still, Kiefer thought his team played hard.

“I thought our kids played their butts off and I’m proud of them,” Kiefer said.

Amos knows not many people outside his team will give the Vikings much hope against LC.

“I should go down to (Las) Vegas and put a bet down,” Amos said. “It’ll probably be about a million to one (odds).”