Panhandle Picks With Greg Lee

Similar to a handful of high school football teams making their season debuts last week, I opened in midseason form.

One miss kept me from a perfect week. My friend and first guest, Tom Booth, didn’t fare as well.

The longtime Coeur d’Alene High booster club president missed half the games.

I’ve got my work cut out for me this week. My guest, Lake City boys basketball coach Jim Winger, has been known to win a little money on the dogs and horses.

When Winger retires from teaching, he’ll consider a sportswriting career. He said he can’t think of an easier job in the world next to teaching.

“Losing to a sportswriter would be a blow to anybody’s ego,” he said. “They’re just a bunch of bottom-feeders.”

East Valley at Coeur d’Alene: The Vikings will put together four quarters of solid ball soon. But it won’t start this week. CdA will have a difficult chore stopping the Knights’ option attack. Physically, the Viks will match up with most teams they play. But they still lack experience in some critical positions. EV 28, CdA 14.

Guest: I understand that Coach (Shawn) Amos is a very good coach, but it appears the Viks are a year away. Ex-Viks coach Jim Clements picks up a win at Vikville. EV 21, CdA 10.

Lake City at Clarkston: LC coach Van Troxel says his team has a lot of things to work on.

Let’s see. The Timberwolves missed an extra point last week and allowed two touchdowns.

They go a long way in shoring those “weaknesses” with an easy road win. LC 35, Clarkston 7.

Guest: Lake City’s first road game, Clarkston’s first game. Translation: Who cares? LC boat-races Bantams. LC 44, Clarkston 6.

Post Falls at Cheney: The Trojans’ difficult nonleague schedule features a matchup against Frontier League favorite Cheney.

Young Trojans will need to improve dramatically to win on the road. Cheney 26, PF 13.

Guest: Post Falls should get better every week. I’d love to pick Idaho over Washington. However, Cheney is too much too early. Cheney 21, PF 6.

Lakeland at Timberlake: For obvious reasons, they could call this game the “Battle of the Lake”.

Players who were teammates last year square off in the first game between cross-district rivals Friday at Rathdrum (a change from previously scheduled Saturday game at Spirit Lake).

Timberlake posted its first win in its debut. The Spirit Lake school will suffer its first loss. Unfortunately, this could be ugly. We expect Lakeland coach Terry Kiefer to call off the dogs, though. Lakeland 42, Timberlake 6.

Guest: Being a coach (especially in football) at a first-year school is like being President Clinton’s press secretary. It’s a daily battle. Coach K wins big. Lakeland 35, Timberlake 7.

Other games:

Lee Winger

Sandpt 28, Skyview 26 Skyview 21, Sandpoint 20

Lewiston 31, Meridian 13 Lewiston 42, Meridian 14

Wallace 20, Prairie 16 Wallace 21, Prairie 10

St. Maries 16, Rivrside 13 St. Maries 14, Rivrside 13

C. Fork 48, Mullan 6 C. Fork 42, Mullan 14

FCA 36, Kootenai 12 FCA 35, Kootenai 14

C. Valley 20, Lakeside 13 C. Valley 29, Lakeside 14

Pullman 36, Moscow 6 Pullman 35, Moscow 7

Kellogg 19, Salmon 13 Salmon 21, Kellogg 7

Chewelah 28, B. Ferry 13 Chewelah 42, B. Ferry 7