Loggers young but have hard-bitten edge

POTLATCH - In its final game of the 2014 season, Potlatch scored 90 points against Lapwai in one of the highest-scoring prep football games in area history (the Loggers won 90-84).

And the Palouse school scored 40 or more points in five of its nine contests - so the Loggers' 3-5 season didn't lack fireworks.

But "we're pretty young," Potlatch coach Pat Amos said of this season's team, which lists just three seniors out of the 17-man roster.

"We're really going to count on (our upperclassmen) to lead by example and help the young guys out."

Senior quarterback Cole Wallen often does just that - "when he's not repping a skill, he's usually helping a kid out," Amos said of Wallen.

Wallen will attempt to fill the shoes of David Amos, who started for three years under center for his father.

"He had a good football IQ so he was able to make adjustments where we needed," Amos said of his son, "and Cole is a bright young man, too, so I think we're going to be able to do those things with Cole."

A wrestler with a "wrestling mentality on the football field," Wallen often begs Amos to let him play offensive guard.

"Have you ever heard of a quarterback wanting to play offensive guard?" Amos asked, laughing. "It's always the other way around. But just about every practice, he'll sneak in at the offensive line.

"He's a lot of fun to be around."

The team's fastest player, senior Levi Weldy, plays tight end "so we hope to take advantage of that," Amos said. And Zach Sheffler, also a senior, deftly employs his 6-foot, 200-plus-pound frame to contain opposing running backs from his defensive end spot.

Sophomores Tristen Dudley and Layton Paul both started on the offensive line last season, and another sophomore, running back Bailey Clark, also saw significant time last season - so the Loggers do have some experience on their side.

They'll open their season with a rivalry contest against Deary at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kibbie Dome, then face Troy on Sept. 5 on the Trojans' home field. To accommodate the Trojans, and let them get in the required number of practices necessary to play, the Loggers agreed to move the game back a day from its original date.

"Any Whitepine League game is exciting because it's such a competitive league," said Amos, whose team will play five games on the road this year in what he called a scheduling "snafu."

"So we're road warriors this year."

The Loggers last made the state playoffs in 2011, and "I know we haven't seen much success the past two years on the field in terms of wins and losses, but we're just going to focus on getting better every week and I think you're going to see it pay off," Amos said.

"This is a good group of kids, they're young and they'll come to play on Friday night. One thing you can always count on with these Loggers kids is they'll come to play Friday night."

What he likes most about his players, Amos said, is their toughness.

"I get excited about going to practice because it's that tough group of kids that you want to be with."