Playoffs not decided quite yet
It’s the final week of the regular season, and the 5A Inland Empire League title and two state playoff berths will be decided.
On the surface, it would appear that all No. 1-ranked Lake City (8-0 overall, 2-0 league) and Coeur d’Alene (6-2, 1-1) must do is go through the motions Friday and they’ll end up facing off the following week in the first round of the state playoffs.
But Lewiston (4-4, 1-1) could make things messy and Post Falls (3-5, 0-2) could knock a team out of the playoffs. So don’t tell LC coach Van Troxel or CdA coach Shawn Amos that their teams just have to show up Friday.
Lewiston visits LC and CdA goes to Post Falls. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
With a victory, LC clinches the league title and a 10th straight visit to the state playoffs, the longest streak among area teams. CdA needs a win to secure a playoff berth.
Both LC and CdA tuned up well for their final regular-season games with big road victories over respectable Columbia Basin League (formerly Big Nine Conference) teams. After falling behind 7-0, LC ran off 31 straight points to top 4A Moses Lake 38-21 while CdA broke from a 14-7 halftime lead to handle 3A Southridge of Kennewick 33-14.
Lewiston has been injury plagued all season, but the Bengals are as healthy as they’ve been. They handled Post Falls 41-20 last week after falling to CdA 46-26 the week before.
The Bengals must play their best game of the season to have a chance.
“Lake City is a great football team,” Lewiston coach Emmett Dougherty told the Lewiston Tribune after the Bengals’ win over PF. “But I think if we finally put everything together and be sharp and physical, I really like our chances.”
Troxel expects Lewiston to play well.
“They’re finally healthy,” Troxel said. “This will come down to being a very big game. If they win then it’s a mess. Then you have to go through all the tiebreaking stuff.”
Troxel believes his team will continue to play well.
“We’ve got to make them play our game and chase us,” Troxel said. “Against Moses Lake we played physical defense, and offensively we were pretty physical. We made them play our game from the second quarter on. Lewiston hasn’t played anybody defensively like us.”
Others start playoffs
The 3A state playoffs begin this week and three Intermountain League teams continue their seasons.
Priest River (4-4) goes to IML champ and second-ranked Timberlake (8-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. Bonners Ferry (4-4) goes to Snake River Valley champion Fruitland (7-1) on Saturday for a noon PDT kickoff.
The North Star League championship will be determined Friday when Mullan (4-2, 3-0) visits Kootenai (5-2, 3-0). Kootenai handled Mullan 48-12 last month in a non-league game.
The winner of the title showdown will play host to a 1A Division II playoff opener between the teams the following week.
“Sandpoint (5-4) has a bye, but the Bulldogs won’t be idle - especially their coaching staff.
Bulldog coaches will attend the Mountain Home at Bishop Kelly game Friday. Both teams are 6-2 and 5-1. Sandpoint will play host to the winner in a 4A playoff opener the following week.
Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell is looking forward to the bye.
“Kurt (Stoll, running back) needs some rest,” Mitchell said. “It’ll help us get him as healthy as he can be.”
Someone will have to sew a new name tag on the back of Stoll’s uniform. It was ripped off late in Sandpoint’s thrilling 21-20 win over Lakeland that clinched the 4A IEL title.
“Four of Sandpoint’s five wins have come at Barlow Stadium.
“It’s been a great place to play so far,” Mitchell said, smiling.
“Moments after Sandpoint’s thrilling 21-20 win over Lakeland, all of Sandpoint’s coaches and players sought out Bubba Bartlett, the Hawks’ senior standout linebacker/running back.
“Bartlett took a moment to apologize to Sandpoint junior quarterback Ryan Armbruster. Bartlett was called for a ticky tack roughing the quarterback penalty.
Someone once said that the true test of a person’s character is how the said person deal with a loss. In the case Friday, Bartlett was his usual class-act self.
“It was a good hard battle,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett offered praise for Stoll, who rushed 39 times for 143 yards.
“He’s a heckuva runner,” Bartlett said. “I wish the best to him and their team.”