Photo By Mike Turner - #88 Alden Waddington
Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Sandpoint
2. Lakeland
3. Moscow
Written by: Brandon Baney
In 2020, the Lakeland Hawks kept things close. A 3-5 record belies the fact that four of their five setbacks came in one-possession games. Late in the year, Lakeland controlled their own destiny but dropped Inland Empire League games to Moscow 30-22, and Sandpoint 6-0. That 6-0 loss to Sandpoint came during an epic blizzard, and dropped Lakeland to the 14th seed in the Class 4A playoffs.
Lakeland had to make the long trip to Pocatello to take on Century in the opening round of the postseason, and had several chances to knock off the Diamondbacks. Century held on in a tight back-and-forth affair 17-14, and just like that, a season filled with promise ended much too early for Hawks fans.
That bitter end to the 2020 season has fueled Lakeland throughout the offseason. And despite the loss of 6-foot-5 tight end and defensive end Ammon Munyer (who’s moved on to play football at Weber State), head coach Tim Kiefer is excited about the potential of this year’s squad.
“I believe we have a lot of team speed that we are looking to exploit,” Kiefer said. “I think we’re dangerous at all skill positions.”
The Hawks’ power spread offense features a returning starter at quarterback in senior Devon Suko, and two talented receivers to throw to in senior Alden Waddington and junior Thomas Calder. Junior John Cornish will take over the fulltime running back role after splitting carries with John White in 2020.
While Lakeland has speed galore, Kiefer said, “We need to protect the ball better and finish drives.”
Defensively, Lakeland’s 3-4 scheme will feature some calculated gambles this season. “We want to be an aggressive defense and are looking to take some chances this season,” Kiefer said. “We hope to generate more turnovers this season and, like always, we want to tackle well.”
Because Lakeland plays in the three-team Inland Empire League, the Hawks have loaded up their non-conference schedule with several difficult opponents in order to prepare for the short conference sprint at the end of the year.
Lakeland will start with a neutral-site game against Preston. The two squads will meet in the middle and play each other at Montana Tech University in Butte, Montana on August 20th. Lakeland will also play Columbia from the SIC and West Valley High from Spokane, Washington. The Hawks have also scheduled up against 5A Lake City and Post Falls, and down against 3A Timberlake and 2A St. Maries.
The IEL slate sets up nicely for Lakeland. The Hawks will host Moscow on October 8th. Then, following a bye week, Lakeland will travel to Sandpoint on October 22nd. Once again, Lakeland will essentially control their own fate at the end of the year.
In nature, a large, attacking group of hawks is known as a “kettle.” Coach Kiefer prefers to think of his flock in another way. “We have a ‘herd’ of kids that can move around a bit,” Kiefer said. “Not a lot of size but some kids that that can fly around and play football.”