Greg Lee

Shawn Amos has never coached a high school football team this deep into November. Usually by this time, the Coeur d'Alene head coach is checking in and taking inventory of equipment.

Lake City High volleyball coach Kent Scanlon, who hinted all season that his 31st overall season would likely be his last, submitted his resignation Tuesday. Scanlon coached all 11 years that LC has been open and coached nine years previously at Coeur d'Alene, where his 1987 team captured a state championship. He also coached 11 years in Cerritos, Calif., before moving to CdA.

Gabe Le believed – and his teammates went along for the ride. The Coeur d'Alene High senior running back packed the Vikings on his shoulders, rushing for a career-high 330 yards and six touchdowns as the Vikings held off the Lake City Timberwolves 50-34 in an outrageously thrilling State 5A football playoff opener Friday before an estimated crowd of 4,000 at Viking Field.

Of all the skill positions on a football team, running back is Coeur d'Alene High coach Shawn Amos' pet position. Amos, after all, was a standout running back in his day. So consider the potentially difficult situation he encountered going into the 2004 season when he decided that Gabe Le, a returning all-league starter, would share carries with varsity newcomer Kevin Ah-Hi, a junior.

SANDPOINT – When the final opportunity knocked, Sandpoint High senior Blake Mahler booted the door down. As the clock ticked down to 4.1 seconds Friday, Mahler kicked a 23-yard field goal to lift the Bulldogs to a 17-14 victory over previously undefeated Post Falls in a 4A North football game before an overflow crowd estimated at 3,500 at Barlow Stadium.

It was never Kent Scanlon's intention to build a high school volleyball dynasty. He left those ambitions when he escaped the fast-paced, bordering on frantic, lifestyle of Southern California and took a 35 percent pay cut for something, well, slower and more sublime when he arrived in Coeur d'Alene in the summer of 1985.

From coach to player, the Timberlake High volleyball team had one goal Saturday: The Tigers wanted to prove their 2003 district title wasn't a coincidence. Timberlake, which dropped both Intermountain League matches to St. Maries, prevailed in a marathon, topping the Lumberjacks 25-18, 23-23, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12 to defend its 3A District I championship.

After cruising through Inland Empire League play undefeated, there's only one way the Sandpoint High girls soccer team – particularly the Bulldogs' seniors – can see the season concluding. Anything less than a 4A state championship would be unacceptable. Especially after falling in a shootout in the state semifinals to eventual champ Century last year. That loss kept five of Sandpoint's 10 seniors from being able to claim four state titles in four years.

It was a loss, but it wasn't demoralizing. A former prep standout about whom I used to write stories beat me – and there's no shame in losing to a student-athlete I admired. Who knows, Chad Troxel may carry on that legacy his dad has built at Lake City High. So I better be nice to him.

For the Lake City High football team, Friday was more work than it desired. For the Lewiston Bengals, Friday was an opportunity for a major upset.

It would be easy for Post Falls High football coach Jerry Lee to wear a smug smile, with a dollop of I-told-ya-so added on for good measure. That would be out of character for Lee, however. Blue collar to the core, he believes in packing a lunch box and putting in a hard day's work – and letting that work speak for itself. That attitude is seen through his team, which is a natural extension of the coach.

The ruin of the Lake City High football team's defense apparently was greatly exaggerated. The Timberwolves, with a big assist from their offense, appeared to have the state's best defense – not Sandpoint – as Lake City stopped the visiting Bulldogs 21-9 Friday in an Inland Empire League football game played before an estimated 1,700 fans.

Lake City High volleyball coach Kent Scanlon cherishes his seniors each year, but there's something about Senior Night that makes him uneasy. To top it off, the schedule had the cross-town rival visiting Thursday.

Jenna Griffitts hasn't run out of time. But the Coeur d'Alene High senior two-sport standout knows time is working against her. Griffitts is standing at a proverbial crossroad. In one hand, she has a volleyball; in the other, she has a basketball. She's decided this much – she will play one sport in college, not both.

If Post Falls were in the classification it should be in based on enrollment (1,411), the Trojans football team would be bound for the playoffs. The 4A Trojans completed a sweep of the Inland Empire League's three 5A teams as Post Falls held off Coeur d'Alene 22-20 before a crowd estimated at 1,900 at Trojans Stadium.

Everywhere one looks in North Idaho there's a quality high school quarterback. None stands taller in the pocket, however, than Lake City senior Ben Widmyer. If he stays in the pocket long enough, that is. Widmyer is a double threat, and it's difficult to determine which is the lesser of his two athletic evils – passing or running.

Breanna Sande didn't know Becca Noble was scheduled to race at the Super 1/Farragut Invitational cross country meet Saturday until moments before the A girls race. It didn't change the Lake City High senior's strategy, but she knew the pace would be much different, at least near the race's end.