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In any event, Jason ended up the winner of Season Six of Gridiron Guesses, with an overall record of 60-22. Mark was second at 58-24. Josh in his rookie season of Guesses, finished 55-27.
In his first season, Eck guided the Vandals to the playoffs for the first time since 1995 — their last season in what was then called Division I-AA. This year, Idaho is the No. 4 seed, and earned a first-round bye this weekend in the 24-team tournament. Eck seems to be able to say the right thing, and do the right thing to connect with folks, quickly re-energizing a fan base starved for victories.
“I was shaking before that,” said Hagel, a quarterback on the junior varsity two years ago, who switched to receiver on the varsity last year as a junior. “I caught that pass back, and I just saw him wide open and I just said, ‘This is it, man, this is it.’”
“We obviously have a long tradition of respectful competition with Highland,” said Shawn Amos, in his 27th season as Coeur d’Alene coach. “When we first started a long time ago, Highland was the program we were trying to emulate. We wanted to be a consistent presence in the state, so that was our goal, and Highland was the program that has done that.”
The “Hawk Bowl” was Saturday, with UC Davis, coached by Dan Hawkins, beating Idaho State, coached by Dan's son Cody Hawkins, 21-14 at Holt Arena in Pocatello. This Saturday, the younger “Hawk” brings his ISU team to the Kibbie Dome, trying to continue an alternately promising and challenging season in Pocatello.