Greg Lee

Talk about anticlimactic. I beat the guests overall for a second straight year, but my cohort, Jim Meehan, beat yours truly for a second straight year I lost to the guest. In fact he gave me the worst lickin' of the year. He felt the mercy rule should be invoked as he won by two games.

Alli Nieman, right, blocks Bonneville's Tara Hawkins. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

If you're planning on attending the State A-1 and A-2 volleyball tournaments today at Lake City High School, you might be wise to wear elbow pads and chin guards. There shouldn't be any problem getting a seat in the gym. But you may have a battle finding your way in. Lake City students will be in session all day. As a result, trying to walk to the gym or from the gym to your car could be an adventure. The long hallway and commons/cafeteria area near the gym will be filled periodically with students, creating what could become a chaotic atmosphere.

Coeur d'Alene's Ryan Corbeill tries to come down with an interception in front of stumbling Lake City wide receiver Brian Ross and Vikings defender Ben Davis (88), but couldn't hold on to the ball. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

It took a former football coach to give yours truly his second defeat of the season. Post Falls Principal John Billetz proved he still is in touch with the game. Billetz picked six of eight games correctly while I had five correct. Going into the final week of the regular season, though, I can officially declare victory. With seven games on the menu this week, the scoreboard reads: Lee 61-15 (.803), Guests 53-23 (.697).

Post Falls' Cameron Christiansen, left, and CdA's Ryan Corbeill fight for a pass. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

It wasn't stop-the-presses news Thursday in the A-1 Region I Tournament championship volleyball match at Lake City High School. At least not for defending state champion Sandpoint. But check back in a week at the same site and the Bulldogs could be writing history.

One way to analyze this week's high school football games is to consider the algebraic theory regarding substitutionary property of equals. The formula goes something like this: If Team A beats Team B and Team B beats Team C then Team A should beat Team C. Or something like that.

With his team idle last week, Wallace High School football coach Dave Rounds had a wonderful opportunity to scout the Miners' possible opponent in a playoff for a berth to the State A-3 playoffs. As the lone A-3 independent team in District I, Wallace faces the second-place finisher in the Central Idaho League for a playoff berth. The CIL's runner-up was determined last Friday when Lapwai defeated Grangeville 22-6. Wallace will take on Lapwai on Oct. 27 in Moscow.

Billetz

The St. Maries High football fans who opted to stay home Friday evening to watch the Seattle Mariners win in extra innings were also able to keep track of the Lumberjacks. After each St. Maries touchdown, a bottle rocket is launched, and the ear-drum-bursting noise it makes can be heard throughout the town.

Jenny Owen's height of 5-feet-3 hasn't hampered her volleyball career. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Marzulli

Historically, the seventh week of the high school football season in North Idaho has featured some wonderfully competitive games. For example, several Coeur d'Alene-Lewiston and Lakeland-St. Maries games rank among the all-time "classic" contests in the Panhandle. It's not likely, though, that those teams will engage in games for the ages Friday when CdA (0-1 in league, 1-5 overall) visits Lewiston (1-1, 5-1) in Inland Empire League action and defending Intermountain League champion Lakeland (3-0, 4-2) treks to preseason favorite St. Maries (2-0, 5-0).

The Sandpoint High School volleyball team tried on its state-tournament face Saturday and liked the fit. Playing with a style that Sandpoint coach Jeff Hurst called "controlled and smooth," the Bulldogs easily devoured St. Maries 15-2, 15-7 in the championship match of the Lake City/Coeur d'Alene Spike-n-Dig Invitational.

CdA's Mark Scates fends off Kenny Fankell of Post Falls. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review

1. Jason Holdahl has completed 65 percent of his passes and thrown for nine TDs. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Jason Hall

Scates

I lost my appetite for fish this week. I won't be eating at Skipper's any time soon. What does any of this have to do with high school sports you ask? Keep reading, this is no fish tale. Last week, it turns out, I provided bulletin board fodder for the Sandpoint High School football team in my Panhandle Picks.

If you need a reason to take in a high school football game Friday, at least two contests - Sandpoint at Coeur d'Alene and Bonners Ferry at Lakeland - provide several intriguing subplots. Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint, for example, will be out to snap streaks against longtime rivals. Bonners Ferry hasn't beaten Intermountain League power Lakeland since 1982 (13 straight defeats), while one must go back to 1977 (17 straight losses) to find the last time Sandpoint defeated Coeur d'Alene. Coeur d'Alene (1-4 overall) opens Inland Empire League play when Sandpoint (1-0, 4-1) comes to town Friday, and the Vikings are starving for a win. The Bulldogs can clinch no worse than third and one of the league's three state playoff berths with a win.

McLean

Kevin Bridge, who was a receiver for the Lakeland Hawks, will be wearing a brace until December after an old neck injury was discovered. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

You can erase the word "never" from the reference to the Post Falls-Lewiston high school football series. Winless since the series began in 1980, Post Falls used a four-touchdown explosion in the second half to run away from the Lewiston Bengals 41-20 in an Inland Empire League opener Friday at Bengal Field.

A pair of high school football league openers Friday could go far in deciding conference championships, if not state playoff berths. Unbeatens will clash when Post Falls travels to Lewiston in an Inland Empire League opener. Both teams are 3-0, and the game most likely will decide the league championship even though both teams will play three more league games. Kickoff at Lewiston, as well as most stops in the Panhandle, is at 7:30.