COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – One last voyage lies ahead for the 23 Coeur d’Alene football seniors, strapping on helmets and hitting the grass for a final preseason in the silver and blue.
“I love this team to death, and we’ve all been together since, like, fifth grade,” quarterback Tanner Stern said. “So, just making memories. And I know we’ve already made so many memories, so just sticking together and having fun.”
“We all have that relationship with each other,” wide receiver Gibson Comstock said. “It’s not like it was one year playing with a lot of guys that left. I think our team is going to be really just locked in with each other, and that’ll be a huge factor going into the playoffs and everything through the season.”
The Vikings offense scrambles defenses through their evenly-distributed passing and quick mobility of Stern, aspects that share the love to all.
Comstock caught just 18 passes last season, but he ended up taking in eight for touchdowns.
“We’ve got a good offense to spread the ball,” Comstock said. “So, I mean, you talk about, like, only 18 receptions. That doesn’t bother me, because we got a lot of guys that we can get the ball to. But, I mean, it’s just taking your opportunities and using them. So you get the ball, you got to do what you can with it.”
The Vikes began practice with just under a week and a half before opening kickoff… A fall camp flash before the looming autumn grind, but no shock given the busy offseason.
“You have to move fast,” head coach Shawn Amos said. “Ten days to get ready for your first game is a lot to shove in. So, luckily our kids are really committed over the summer, so we’re hitting the ground running. But it’s a short window.”
Coeur d’Alene plays a long ‘preseason’ schedule before two critical Inland Empire games, a series against Lake City and Post Falls they swept last season for a league title and state tournament berth.
“A lot of us have been playing since fifth grade,” linebacker Ben Murray said. “So it’s kind of sad that this is our last run. But I think because it’s our last run, we have really focused in the offseason, and we’re trying to get the underclassmen going, and we’re excited and make a big push this year and kind of finish on a bang with high school.”
The march to state begins next Friday, Aug. 21, at the Lakeland Hawks, and kickoff in Rathdrum arrives at 7:00 p.m.
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