Written by: Lucas Gebhart
A new era is beginning at Lakeland High this fall.
For the first time since the 1970s, a man whose last name isn’t Kiefer will be leading the Lakeland High football program. The last time that happened Jimmy Carter was president and a gallon of gas cost just over a dollar and 20 cents.
Mike Schroeder is the man tasked with making the transition. He takes over for Tim Kiefer who led the program for the past 18 seasons. Tim’s father, Terry, served as head coach in each of the 25 years prior to that. The Kiefer era closes with two states titles, one in 1988 and the other the following year in 1989.
The Hawks’ new head coach also has two state titles to his name but only one of them was won in Idaho. He won that championship at Emmett High, a school that was 3A at the time, but now competes in Idaho’s 4A class.
The other title came in California in 2004. In all, Schroder holds an impressive 138-68-1 overall record in his 19 years as head coach.
It may be just what the program the needs too. The Hawks went 5-5 last season, still good enough to grab a spot in the state playoffs, but not good enough for a winning season. Lakeland hasn’t had one of those since 2014.
“New coaches and some new players as well,” Schroeder said. “Some overall new excitement and enthusiasm. Some players’ roles will expand due to the fact we have a few exceptional football players that will be asked to do more than others.”
One of those players is senior quarterback Caysen Loutzenhiser. He is joined by returning receiver and defensive back Cody Morse along with linemen Chase Burcham and Hutton Hegbloom, who also plays tight end on offense.
Schroder says he plans to run a west coast style of offense and is confident his team will be able to accomplish one of the key components of that offense.
“Strengths should be our overall offensive line size,” he said. “That and the ability to control the ball.”
The Hawks first test with their new head coach will come in a bigtime venue in different state, and it will come against a team they don’t see often. Lakeland opens its new season against Preston at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on the University of Montana’s campus. The stadium is one of the premiere venues in the Big Sky Conference and holds 25,000 Griz fans on game days, which is more than double Rathdrum’s total population.
Lakeland will then take on 5A Lake City the following week before hosting Columbia the following week. Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls are scheduled for October, and the Hawks will close the team with their 4A Inland Empire foes in Sandpoint and Moscow.