Caden Symons strong in pocket, Coeur d’Alene picks off Rigby three times in 24-14 ‘Week 0’ win

For the past two years, North Idaho high school football has kicked off in Missoula with state powerhouses Coeur d’Alene facing Rigby, splitting a pair of contests on neutral turf at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

But because of concerts at the stadium this weekend, the rivalry shifted to Viking Field for this year’s edition – the sixth meeting between the teams since 2018.

Most coaches will schedule down the first couple of weeks of the season, but CdA coach Shawn Amos doesn’t shy away from early-season challenges for his squad.

Junior quarterback Caden Symons threw for 255 yards, the defense gathered three interceptions and the Vikings – ranked No. 1 in the new 6A classification in the Idaho preseason media poll, bested third-ranked Rigby 24-14 in a cool, misty rain on Friday.

Rigby has won three of the past five state championships, including a double-overtime game with Coeur d’Alene in 2019 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. But the season-opening win for the Vikings evened the overall series at 3-3.

“Gotta love playing Rigby, man,” Amos said. “You always know you’re gonna get tested. It’s gonna be a great game. You’re gonna learn a lot about your kids.”

“We like playing the best of the best at the beginning,” Symons said. “You don’t get better playing bad teams. To get better you gotta be out there fighting.”

Symons finished 18 of 29, completing passes to seven receivers. Chief among them was wideout Kai Wheeler, who made four catches for 80 yards. Six Vikings carried 25 times for 112 yards with three rushing touchdowns in the autumn-like weather.

“It was fun,” Symons said. “First game, you know, a lot of nerves, a lot of new people. A lot of JV players stepped up. It was a team effort right there.”

“I thought, you know, we did a lot of good things,” Amos said. “We also made a lot of penalties. We’ve got to clean that up. If we want to have success down the road, we’ve got to clean up those self-inflicted wounds. But Rigby is a great program. Our kids never panicked, never.”

Amos was particularly impressed by his experienced secondary. Though Rigby quarterback Jake Flowers completed 24 of 30 passes, he was limited to 159 yards – with 48 of that coming in one chunk – and the three interceptions, two by Jayson Cady and one by Wheeler.

“Jayson Cady just has a knack for dropping underneath that pattern,” Amos said. “I mean, our back half is experienced and really good football players. Our O-line, D-line, we’re growing some kids there, so I thought they made strides, too.”

The Vikings took the opening kick at their 13 after a penalty and drove 14 plays to the Rigby 17. They lined up for a field-goal attempt, but the wet ball squirted on the snap, and holder Kolbe Coey gathered it, went around left end and hustled 17 yards for the opening score.

“Thank God, we have a really good athlete as a holder,” Amos said. “He just made something happen.”

On the next possession, Flowers punted in Rigby territory for just 11 yards, Three plays later, Tucker Booth carried for a 13-yard TD to make it 14-0.

Rigby converted a long drive with Flowers’ 25-yard pass to Brysin Youngstrom to make it 14-7, then drove to the CdA 3 with 14 seconds left in the half. Flowers hit Jerzey Duenes with a short pass, but he was stopped short of the line and time expired before the Trojans could get off another play.

Wheeler’s interception on the third play of the second half led to a 17-yard TD scamper by Christian Young, and Rigby responded with Amani Morel’s 10-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter.

But Cady, pulling double duty as Vikings kicker, nailed a 23-yard field goal with 4:50 left, and that’s all the insurance the Vikings needed.

“It feels like playoff weather,” Amos said. “But it’s nice to play at home.”

Others

Sandpoint 36, Twin Falls 26: The Bulldogs ran up a 22-0 lead and saw their advantage dwindle to three with 8 minutes to play before hanging on to beat the Bruins.

Moscow 43, Kellogg 0: The Bears, who petitioned to play down at Class 4A for the next two years after going 1-15 the past two seasons, handled the 3A Wildcats.

Lakeside 54, Coeur du Christ 32: The Knights topped the visiting Saints in the first game between Lakeside coach Jerry Louie-McGee, a former Lake City and Montana standout, and Coeur du Christ coach Kellen Clemens, the former Oregon star.