Vikings Prevail In Mt. Spokane’s Inauguration
Coeur d’Alene Vikings first-year football coach Shawn Amos probably didn’t get a lot of sleep this past week following his team’s season-opening loss to crosstown rival Lake City High School last Friday.
He may be resting a bit more easily this weekend, however.
Amos’ young Vikings rebounded from last week’s loss to defeat the Mt. Spokane Wildcats 28-14 Friday before about 700 fans at Viking Field.
The Wildcats (0-1), with no senior enrollment and playing their inaugural season after splitting from Mead High School, were showed few signs of inexperience in the early going.
On their first possession, the Wildcats held the ball for nearly 6 minutes, driving 52 yards in 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead.
The Vikings were gracious hosts on that drive, twice committing major penalties in Mt. Spokane punting situations. Mt. Spokane drove to the CdA 5-yard line behind a couple of passes from junior quarterback Casey Clark to junior fullback Levi Hogue. Then, on third-and-goal, a pass interference call gave the Wildcats a first down at the 2.
On the next play, Clark faked to Hogue up the middle, fooling the CdA defense, then carried it in himself for the touchdown.
“Penalties killed us,” Amos said. “We did better, but we certainly have a long way to go. We’re inexperienced, but we’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Viks had 14 penalties for 113 yards.
But even with those miscues, the rest of the first half belonged to the Viks.
CdA rebounded immediately, scoring on its first two possessions, both on short runs by junior Pat Goodwin, to take a 14-7 lead.
And CdA grabbed even more momentum when sophomore linebacker A.J. Ballensky picked off a Jacob Swanson pass at the 33-yard line and returned it to the Wildcats 7.
On the Viks’ first play following the interception, CdA quarterback Andy Molenar found running back Vince Rossi in the right flat. Rossi got a block from wide receiver Jeff Rupp at the 2 and rambled into the end zone for a 21-7 Vikings lead.
Goodwin added another score with 4:37 to go in the half on a 19-yard run and was on a record rushing pace with 159 yards on 12 carries in the first half.
But all hopes of a record vanished when he was ejected with 1:11 to go before halftime after an illegal chop block.
The Wildcats made it interesting, scoring again on their first drive of the second half on a 15-yard pass from Clark to Robert Schuyler to cut their deficit to 28-14 but never really threatened again.
Mt. Spokane coach Mike McLaughlin was upbeat following the loss in the first game in the school’s history.
“I thought our effort was commendable,” McLaughlin said. “I was pleased with our effort at the beginning of each half. Our goal was to improve in the second half and we shut them out.
“I was reminded once again that sophomores are sophomores.”
CdA 28, Mt. Spokane-Mead 14
MS 7 0 7 0 14
CdA 6 22 0 0 28
MS-Clark 2 run (Snyder kick) CdA-Goodwin 4 run (kick failed) CdA-Goodwin 2 run (Molenar pass to Moe) CdA-Rossi 7 pass from Molenar (Davis kick) CdA-Goodwin 19 run (Davis kick) MS-Schuyler 15 pass from Clark (Snyder kick)