Panhandle Picks With Greg Lee

As I expected, the coach’s wife proved to be a difficult opponent.

I didn’t add to my sizable first-week lead, but I didn’t lose any ground either.

Last week’s guest, Karen Troxel, and I each picked 10 of 12 games correctly. That effort pushes my season total to 16 of 22 (.727), much closer to the picking percentage I desire.

The guests’ total is 12 of 22 (.545).

My guest this week, Derek Dickinson, e-mailed me recently, asking to be considered as a guest. I’d like to think that’s akin to my son voluntarily asking to be taken behind the woodshed.

Dickinson is a 1995 graduate of Lakeland High, where he started at quarterback as a senior. He’s teaching and coaching freshman football at Sandpoint High.

Clarkston at Sandpoint: The Bantams played at a high level for a season opener last week, drilling Post Falls 55-17 after falling behind 17-0.

They’re picked to capture a state playoff berth.

Clarkston features a balanced offense, led by talented southpaw quarterback Brian (Just call me Sammy) Baugh.

Sandpoint makes its home debut. The Bantams will find the trip quite taxing. It is always difficult to play before the Bulldogs’ usually raucous crowd and even more troubling to try and contain Sandpoint’s three-pronged running attack. Sandpoint 28, Clarkston 18.

Guest: I’d be stupid to pick against Sandpoint since I have to deal with a lot of the players in my classes for the next nine months. Clarkston is a tough club, but look for Sandpoint to get its offense rolling in front of the crazies at home. Clarkston will be wondering “Who let the dogs out?” Sandpoint 34, Clarkston 20.

Moscow at Coeur d’Alene: Post Falls scored 32 points against the Bears two weeks ago. Class 2A Pullman racked up 42 last week.

CdA’s multidimensional offense is much better than Pullman and Post Falls. And the Viks are deeper than those teams.

Moscow will score against CdA, but the Viks win in a breeze. CdA 39, Moscow 20.

Guest: The kids at Moscow will battle all season long and could surprise a team or two. However, the Viks are for real and could be in the playoffs at season’s end. If Moscow can get the ball to Darnell Williams a bunch they could make it close, but the Viks have Paul Ziegler and that spells trouble for the Bears. CdA 27, Moscow 13.

Colville at Post Falls: This is the sad reality for the Trojans: If they don’t win this game, they could go 0-9.

Post Falls lost a handful of players to injuries and ejections last week.

This is a game Post Falls can win. Both teams lack offensive weapons. So the Trojans will win a defensive game. PF 17, Colville 13.

Guest: Post Falls is a hurting unit after its second-half meltdown to Clarkston last week. Injuries and ejections have hurt the Trojans, and Colville was less than impressive against the Viks.

So this one could be close. I’ll take the Indians, even though I’ll be hearing it until the day I die from my wife and fatherin-law if their beloved Trojans win. Colville 15, PF 14.

Other games

Lee Dickinson

Lake City 40, W. Valley 6 Lake City 32, W. Valley 7

Hellgate 26, Lakeland 19 Lakeland 20, Hellgate 19

Lewiston 28, Eagle 24 Lewiston 27, Eagle 21

Timberline 26, Kellogg 13 Kellogg 22, Timberline 13

B. Ferry 20, Lethbridge 13 B. Ferry 26, Lethbridge 12

St. Maries 18, Wallace 13 St. Maries 20, Wallace 7

Lakeside 32, Sprngdle 28 Lakeside 34, Sprngdle 20

Colfax 30, Timberlake 20 Colfax 33, Timberlake 14

FCA 38, Kootenai 12 FCA 36, Kootenai 13

Mullan 36, C. Fork 18 Mullan 34, C. Fork 26