School starts, so does football

The Post Falls High football team improved last year.

Lakeland, meanwhile, qualified for the State 4A playoffs for the first time since moving into the classification in 2004.

Timberlake continued to dominate the 3A Intermountain League.

All three schools will be in the mix for postseason berths this fall.

Here is a look at the teams.

Post Falls

The Trojans (5-4 overall, 1-2 Inland Empire League) were in the chase for one of the IEL’s two playoff berths through the final week of the regular season. In fact, Post Falls needed a win in its final game against Coeur d’Alene to keep its hopes alive.

Post Falls won, but as the playoff scenario unfolded the Trojans found themselves on the outside looking in. They’ll be in the hunt this season.

Post Falls returns 24 lettermen and nine starters.

Senior Nikk Reinhardt returns at quarterback. A first-team all-IEL pick last year, Reinhardt passed for 1,459 yards, completing 99 of 168 passes (59 percent). He had 17 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

But that’s where the Trojans’ experience in the skill positions ends. The Trojans’ top receiver, Levi Buckles (51 receptions and 1,018 yards), and running back, Randy Hamilton (1,007 yards), graduated. They left big shoes to fill.

Reinhardt will be counted on heavily to make big plays until the unproven running backs and receivers step up.

“We really liked his accuracy last year,” Post Falls coach Jeff Hinz said. “What we want to see him do this year is make better decisions at times. We want him to cut down his interceptions.”

Reinhardt will have a sizable line to protect him in seniors and returning starters Austin Tate (6-foot-1, 215 pounds), Darren Mohney (6-3, 290) and Clinton Archer (6-0, 285).

Leading the defense are senior linebacker Cole Amende (6-2, 220), a first-team all-league pick, and senior free safety Travis Reis (5-9, 170).

Other players who are expected to play big roles are junior tight end Jeremy Cragin (6-4, 205), junior linebacker/fullback Jerod Kennedy (6-3, 215), senior cornerback Brandon Litalien (6-1, 165) and senior linebacker/safety Brady Ryan (5-10, 180).

Others to watch are senior running backs Sean Rollins (5-5, 145) and Kenny Bartholomew (5-7, 158), senior receivers Mike Jenicek (5-10, 170), Dakota Allert (5-11, 165) and Brett Winn (5-9, 150), senior linebacker Kelly Fisher (5-8, 154), senior defensive tackle Cameron Cook (6-0, 240) and junior cornerback Jordan Johnston (6-0, 160).

The defense has been ahead of the offense in early practices.

“Our team attitude is one of the best we’ve had,” Hinz said. “They’re focused on getting better and eliminating mistakes.”

Post Falls opened 4-0 last year. The Trojans followed by losing four straight before concluding with a win over CdA.

“We hit a wall until our last game,” Hinz said. “For us to be successful this year we’ve got to stay healthy and continue to improve.”

Lakeland

The Hawks had a breakthrough season last year, and they want to pick up where they left off.

Lakeland (7-4, 2-0) returns 20 lettermen and seven starters.

The returning starters are all seniors – Riley Youngdell (qb, 6-0, 170), Kyle McCrite (rb/cb/lb, 5-6, 140), Jason Mobeck (te/de/fs, 6-3, 190), Brady Schweikert (de/offensive tackle, 6-0, 230), Curtis Bennion (dt/offensive guard, 5-10, 230), Jason McKinney (cb, 5-9, 170) and John Novak (placekicker/lb, 6-0, 200).

Schweikert, Bennion and McKinney were first-team all-league selections last year.

Other players who are expected to make an impact are seniors Adam Day (wr/lb, 5-11, 170), Brian Ramus (ot, 6-4, 225), Ryan Wixon (lb/te, 6-2, 180), Austin Black (wr/db, 6-2, 180) and Tristan Storrs (lb, 5-7, 160) and juniors Jason Underdahl (center, 6-2, 195), Taylor Miller (ot/dt, 6-0, 215) and Joel Underdahl (wr/fs, 6-1, 175).

The 2008 Hawks remind coach Tim Kiefer a lot of last year’s team.

“Other than the fact that we’re not as deep up front, this team is very reminiscent of last year’s team to me,” Kiefer said. “Last year we had very few kids with returning starting experience and we had a number of seniors who were first-time starters. It seemed to work last year.”

Lakeland, Sandpoint and Moscow will vie for one state playoff berth.

The Hawks dropped a one-point heartbreaker at home two years ago to Sandpoint to just miss the playoffs. But they reversed it with a one-point win at Sandpoint last year.

“I think Sandpoint is probably in the same situation as we are,” Kiefer said. “They may have even lost more experience than we did.”

Lakeland has tweaked its Wing T offense. The Hawks will feature more one-back sets than two-back sets with the hope of spreading the field and throwing the ball more.

“Every season I come in saying we’re going to be better throwing the ball,” Kiefer said. “And then we fall back into the old groove and run it. But we’re definitely focusing on throwing it more. Our goal is to make teams defend the whole field. I don’t know that that was the case last year.”

When the Hawks do run, McCrite will be the workhorse.

“I don’t know how many times we can give him the ball, but we want him to touch it a lot,” Kiefer said.

Timberlake

It will be a different year at Spirit Lake. That doesn’t necessarily mean the results will be different, though.

The king of the IML relied heavily the last three years on tailback Nick Puckett and quarterback Levi Powers. The three-year starters have graduated, but there’s plenty of talent waiting in the wings.

Timberlake (8-3, 4-0) returns 14 lettermen and six starters.

The returning starters are seniors Patrick Lagrimanta (rb, 5-11, 165), Brian Maldanado (qb, 6-3, 175) and Ammon Johnston (lb/g, 6-0, 235) and juniors Joe Sedillo (c/dt, 5-11, 200), Dylan White (dt/ot, 6-1, 275) and Cody Aery (lb/rb, 5-9, 165). Johnston was a first-team all-IML selection last year.

Maldanado started four games at quarterback when Powers was out with an injury. Maldanado will split time with junior Derek Puckett (6-3, 170).

“We’re going to rotate them,” Tigers coach Roy Albertson said.

Maldanado’s strength is throwing and Puckett’s asset is running.

Albertson isn’t asking just one player to fill Nick Puckett’s shoes at tailback. He plans on using six players in his Wing T scheme. Sharing carries with Aery and Lagrimanta will be seniors Gairet North (5-11, 160) and Hunter Corn (5-11, 170) and juniors John Morris (5-10, 175) and John Schaffer (5-9, 160).

“Whoever is doing the best job will get most of the carries in the fourth quarter,” Albertson said. “We’ve never had this (depth) before. We’ve always been a one-guy outfit in each position.”

Albertson is looking forward to using both Maldanado and Puckett.

“It’s a very different look in that when you get ready for us you’ve got to get ready for two teams offensively,” Albertson said.

Others to watch are senior tight end Dillon Preisendorfer (6-1, 175), senior two-way linemen Lonnie Roberts (5-10, 230) and Randy Reece (5-10, 200) and junior linemen Matt Kriz (6-3, 200) and Kim Jones (6-3, 210).

With just eight seniors, Albertson doesn’t see his team as the league favorite. He tabs Kellogg (6-2, 3-1), which finished second last year.

“Kellogg is the team with the most coming back,” Albertson said. “They’re a solid football team. You could see signs of it last year. We have a good football team, too. Our kids play well together.”