Blizzard Of Games To Open Playoffs
Snow is expected by this weekend. That can only mean one thing: It must be high school football playoff season.
Seven Panhandle teams will be chasing dreams that just one team in each classification will see fulfilled in three weeks - a state championship.
For at least three teams - Post Falls, Lewiston and St. Maries - the dream may not be far from reality.
In A-1 Division II openers, Sandpoint (6-3 overall) travels to Post Falls (8-1) on Friday evening at 7 in a rematch of last week’s regular-season finale between the teams, while Lewiston (7-2) will make the long trek to Mountain Home (6-3) for a Saturday afternoon contest at noon.
In A-2 openers Saturday, St. Maries (9-0) will entertain Emmett (7-2) at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene at 1 p.m. while Lakeland (5-4) travels to Weiser (7-2) for a noon start.
The St. Maries-Emmett game is being played at Lake City because St. Maries’ field is not up to Idaho High School Activities Association standards.
In a pair of A-4 eight-man games Saturday afternoon at the Kibbie Dome, Mullan (7-1) will meet Council (8-1) at 1 followed by Deary (8-0) taking on Lakeside (8-1) at 3.
A-1 Division II
It’s commonly accepted that rematch games traditionally favor the underdog.
Post Falls had no problem disposing of the Bulldogs 33-7 last week. While Sandpoint kept Trojans running back Josh Mort in check, it didn’t defend quarterback Travis O’Briant and wide receiver Brett Hollenbeck.
That is the problem teams have faced trying to defend the multi-faceted Trojans this season. You may be able to take one thing away but you can’t stymie their entire package.
Post Falls coach Jerry Lee doesn’t expect big changes overall from either team.
“There won’t be any radical changes - it’s too late in the season to do that,” Lee said. “When you get too concerned with that you can start overcoaching.”
A-2
St. Maries coach Curt Carr is bracing his team for an invasion of “The Fly.”
That’s the name of the funky offense that Emmett has employed this season under first-year coach Larry Nigro. It’s a variation of the Wing-T with lots of motion and deception.
“The thing is you’ve got to ignore all the motion and stuff and just play football,” Carr said.
St. Maries running back/linebacker Jason Hall has a broken bone in his left hand. It’s believed he suffered the injury midway in the season, but it wasn’t diagnosed until Saturday. He’ll wear a plastic brace and should be fine, Carr said.
Emmett has gotten better and better as the season progressed.
“We’re playing a real good team,” Nigro said of St. Maries. “The ball is going to have to bounce our way a few times. They’re everything everybody has said they are.”
Lakeland and Weiser, meanwhile, are no strangers.
This is the seventh meeting between the teams, and the series is deadlocked.
Weiser pulled an upset last year, beating Lakeland in overtime. The way Lakeland coach Terry Kiefer sees it, Weiser is favored Saturday.
“For us to win we have to control the football,” Kiefer said. “We can’t leave our defense on the field a lot.”
A-4 eight-man
Deary coach Darrah Eggers likens Lakeside to his team from 1993. “We were exactly like that,” Eggers said. “We started four sophomores and one freshman, and won it.”
The Mustangs returned to the championship game last year, losing to Carey 58-36.
The nucleus of that team is back, including seniors Ryan Holden at quarterback (passed for 900 yards at 71-percent efficiency, one interception, 14 touchdowns) and Aaron Workman at tailback (1,100 yards).
The undefeated Mustangs have ended all of their 1995 games by the 45-point mercy rule in the third quarter.
It’s been five years since Lakeside’s last postseason appearance, and the Knights’ best years might lie ahead. There are 22 underclassmen on the 28-player roster.
“We know we’re young,” Lakeside coach Ron Miller said. “We have the ability to beat people, let’s just see if we can do it.”
Playing in the Kibbie Dome alone is a huge experience for the eight-man teams.
Mullan fell hard in last year’s first-round playoff with Deary, 70-38, which is part of the reason the Tigers and Knights played off for the North Star League’s top-seed position earlier this week. The No. 2 seed, Lakeside, drew Deary.
“We’ve seen enough of (Deary),” 30-year Mullan coach John Drager said. “They’re really loaded.”
Mullan running back David Reed, who has battled an injured shoulder, is expected to play. But not at linebacker, Drager said.
“We can run the ball; we can pass the ball; we’ve got good people,” Drager said. “It might be a high-scoring game.”
Mullan’s opponent, Council, likes to run the ball. The Lumberjacks are led by senior quarterback Nate Jensen, who has rushed for 800 yards and thrown for 300.
“We haven’t had to rely too much on the pass,” Lumberjacks coach Murray Dalgleish said. “It’s just a matter of going to your strengths, and if you don’t need to pass … When you pass four things can happen and three of them are bad. It’s better to keep it on the ground.”
, DataTimes