Wallace, Kootenai lead way
When Wallace High dropped from 2A to 1A two years ago, Miners football coach Dave Rounds expected his team to be an immediate power in the smaller ranks.
The Miners have made the 1A Division I playoffs the last two years, but they haven’t been the big bully in the North Star League that Rounds anticipated.
That could change this year. The Miners are heavily favored to romp through the NSL. Kootenai, meanwhile, is poised to capture the league’s top 1A Division II playoff berth. The league’s top two Division II teams advance to the playoffs, with the top seed playing host to the second seed in a first-round game.
Rounds doesn’t hide the fact that his Miners will be good.
“Our running game and passing game are good,” Rounds said.
That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the NSL – especially after the Miners’ 41-14 win over 3A St. Maries last Friday.
“The two teams that are the league favorites both showed (last) Friday that they’re ready to play,” said Lakeside coach Ron Miller, who was alluding to Kootenai’s 60-14 pasting of Clark Fork in a non-league opener. “Overall, Wallace is the team to beat. They’re going to have a little more up front and they probably have equivalent speed with Kootenai. And Kootenai is the second team. Kootenai has speed all over the field.”
Miller should know about Kootenai’s speed. He not only scouted Kootenai’s opener last Friday, but he and Warriors coach Doug Napierala combined to send a co-op team to Whitworth’s 8-man camp this summer.
“Kootenai brought its backfield and receivers and we brought the linemen,” Miller said. “We had a pretty good camp. I don’t see anybody knocking off Wallace or Kootenai.”
Kootenai returns a young team overall, but the Warriors gained much experience by throwing some of their youth to the wolves last year.
Napierala figures he’ll find out much more about his team Friday when Kootenai plays host to Washington 8-man power LaCrosse-Washtucna. If the Tigercats win, they will extend their win streak to 49 to set a state mark.