Panhandle picks with Greg Lee

Well, I’m already down one lunch thanks to the dreaded tiebreaker.

My first guest, Lakeland High athletic director Will Havercroft, and I tied by picking five of the six games correctly. But Havercroft had Lake City beating defending state champ Meridian by a wider margin than I did.

My guest this week is a new face in the neighborhood but an old mug in terms of statewide activities. Bob Ranells is the new superintendent of Wallace schools, but he has a long history around the state.

Ranells, an Arkansas native with just a hint of a drawl, got his start in Idaho as a head football coach at Wendell. He went on to Nampa where he got his start in administration. He left Nampa for superintendent stops in eastern and southern Idaho before landing at Grand Coulee in north-central Washington the last two years.

Ranells, who also referees football and basketball, is a must-meet administrator. His arrival in Wallace will be nothing but positive for that community.

Kellogg at Wallace: Well, I couldn’t have Ranells as a guest without picking Wallace as one of our featured games.

Actually, this could be a dandy. Wallace, an 8-man team by day and an 11-man team in the non-conference portion of its schedule, is coming off a 41-14 win at 3A St. Maries.

Kellogg will be much improved this season. But since this is the Wildcats’ season opener and the Miners have one game under their belts, I’m going with Wallace. Wallace 28, Kellogg 24.

Guest: I’m going with the local kids. Wallace 30, Kellogg 26.

Post Falls at Sandpoint (tiebreaker): All streaks come to an end (see Mariners against the American League West), so the Trojans are bound to beat the Bulldogs again. Post Falls hasn’t beaten Sandpoint since 1998.

It could very well be Friday. The only way that will happen, though, is if Post Falls finds a way to corral Bulldogs bulldozer and running back Kurt Stoll.

Sandpoint is coming off a season opener and this is Post Falls’ season opener. The Bulldogs faithful will turn out for the home opener and bring their vocal chords, too. Sandpoint 34, Post Falls 24.

Guest: The home team is favored in this one. Sandpoint 42, Post Falls 7.

Kennewick at Lake City: This is a reunion of sorts for LC coach Van Troxel.

This is the first time his Timberwolves have played his late father’s school, Kennewick.

Van Troxel still has ties to Kennewick as the Lions’ head coach, Billy Templeton, played running back for Van’s dad, Ed, at Kennewick. Half of Kennewick’s coaching staff coached for Ed.

History aside, the T-Wolves shouldn’t have any problem. Templeton inherited a rebuilding program at Kennewick, and things are looking up.

The Lions could have scheduled a better season opener.

LC will cruise, and Van Troxel will let off the throttle before it gets out of control. LC 35, Kennewick 7.

Guest: I worked the Lake City-Meridian game last weekend and was impressed with LC. LC 26, Kennewick 10.

Other games: