With football season less than six weeks away, North Idaho’s high school programs are finalizing schedules that blend time-honored regional rivalries, carefully selected out-of-area opponents, and an eye toward national playoff rankings. The 2026 campaign kicks off in mid-to-late August, with Lake City taking the field first on Aug. 21 against Boise at Dona Larsen Park, while Lakeland and Coeur d’Alene begin the same day at Corbit Field in Rathdrum. Coeur d’Alene’s opening-week slate continues Aug. 22 when Coeur du Christ hosts Lewis County at Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley, with other area programs launching their seasons the following week.
Coeur d’Alene Adds Fresh Matchups After 25-Year Drought
Coeur d’Alene football coach Shawn Amos, who is in his 30th season leading the Vikings, said the final schedule strikes the right balance between competitive quality and regional connectivity. “Our schedule turned out great. We were able to pick up quality games with schools in our area with the addition of Lakeland, Lewis and Clark and Moses Lake,” Amos stated in a recent interview about the team’s nonleague slate.
The addition of Lewis and Clark carries particular historical weight for the Vikings program. Coeur d’Alene has not faced Lewis and Clark since 2001, a gap of a quarter-century. Similarly, a matchup with Moses Lake marks the first meeting between the two schools in nine years—their last contest occurred in 2017. Both opponents bring proven credentials: six of Coeur d’Alene’s seven nonleague foes made the state playoffs a season ago, and two of those teams—Rigby and Silverton, Oregon—won state titles.
Lakeland, meanwhile, returns to Coeur d’Alene’s schedule after a three-year absence. The two Panhandle programs last met in football in 2023 at Viking Field in Coeur d’Alene. Since 2009, the schools have crossed paths three times on the field, making the renewal of the rivalry a focal point for both squads. Coeur d’Alene and Silverton, a powerhouse from Oregon, are also slated to face each other for the third consecutive season in 2027.
Lake City Balances Prestige Opponents With Local Ties
Lake City athletic director Troy Anderson articulated a scheduling philosophy that goes beyond winning records. The program recognizes that the MaxPreps national rankings system—used to seed playoff brackets and measure strength of schedule—now factors heavily into athletic decision-making at the high school level.
“Even good losses can be good for your MaxPreps rankings. You do want to win, and you want to be competitive, but MaxPreps definitely has us thinking through,” Anderson said, reflecting the modern calculus of scheduling.
Lake City, which opened its doors in 1994, has maintained continuity in its rivalry calendar. The Timberwolves face Lakeland for the ninth consecutive season and have played Sandpoint annually since the school’s inception—a 32-year tradition. Additionally, Lake City has hosted Eisenhower and Highland in home-and-away matchups over the past two years.
A notable wrinkle for Lake City involves Highland’s home games. Rather than playing in Pocatello, Highland will host Lake City at Montana Tech University in Butte for the next two seasons. Lake City and Central Valley, another Kootenai County rival, will renew their football series for the first time since 2016. That gap makes the 2026 matchup a significant marker of regional history: the two programs have not squared off in more than a decade.
Two staff members at Central Valley strengthen the personal connections to Lake City. Defensive coordinator Travis Harmon and offensive coordinator Dante Menard both played football for Lake City, adding layers of familiarity and local pride to the matchup.
Post Falls Ventures South for Early-Season Challenge
Post Falls will also test itself against premium competition, opening the season with a Sept. 11 matchup against Boise. The Trojan football program will make a second trip south on Oct. 16 to face Timberline at Dona Larsen Park in Boise, scheduling two games in Idaho’s largest metro area within a month of each other.
The staggered approach to scheduling—mixing local and regional opponents with higher-ranked programs from across the state—reflects a broader shift in high school athletics. Coaches and athletic directors now weigh not only traditional rivalries and travel costs but also the algorithmic impact of strength of schedule on playoff positioning. For North Idaho programs, that balance has meant scheduling quality opponents while preserving the regional roots that make high school football central to community identity across Kootenai County.