Preseason Coaches Poll:
1. Coeur du Christ
2. Clark Fork
Written by: Will Hoenike
When the wheel stopped spinning after the most recent round of reclassification in Idaho, the 1A North Star League was left with just two teams – Clark Fork and Coeur du Christ Academy.
It’s not unprecedented. The 2A High Desert Conference was a two-team conference (Butte County and Grace) as recently as last year. Likewise, the 3A classification (then 2A) once had the Canyon Conference, home to just Declo and Wendell.
The North Star featured four teams in 2025 but Lakeside and Wallace had enrollments that pushed them up to the 2A classification, where they are the entirety of the two-team Scenic Idaho Conference.
Coeur du Christ, a third-year program, is the North Star’s defending champion after going 7-2 overall, including a perfect 3-0 in league play, in 2025. The Saints advanced to the 1A postseason, falling in a 40-36 heartbreaker to eventual state champion Carey.
The Saints and Wampus Cats will play twice – August 28 in Worley (where Couer du Christ currently plays home games) and October 23 in Clark Fork – with one counting as the North Star’s only “league” game.
COEUR DU CHRIST
Head coach Kellen Clemens lost just four seniors from his 21-player roster, so the Saints return plenty of talent and experience headed into only its third season of high school football.
“We have established a culture and increased overall football IQ, and I’m very excited to be able to focus on some of the subtleties of the game this year,” Clemens said. “The biggest thing we will have to do this year is develop depth behind our starters.”
The good news is that he and his staff have a good batch of starters returning, led by junior QB/DB Grant Clemens. As a sophomore, he threw for 2,001 yards and 31 scores – against just two interceptions – to help the Saints offense average nearly 46 points per game in 2025.
It was far from a one-man show, though, for the team that preaches a “team” mindset. Senior Jon Denke was the league’s offensive player of the year (RB) and defensive player of the year (LB) after accounting for nearly 1,200 yards of total offense and 16 combined touchdowns, along with nearly 60 tackles and a sack on defense. The Saints also return another two-way standout, junior WR/DB Beckett Beyer, who was selected all-league on both sides of the ball.
“All five of our skill players are returning starters that were very productive for us last year,” Clemens said. “Another year in the system allows us to be more versatile.”
The coaching staff is excited about its defensive front, where junior Sean O’Neill will be flanked on the ends by junior Eli Zember and sophomore Matthew Junkin. Together, the trio combined to average about ten tackles per game last season and will see more playing time this fall. Denke will see plenty of time at the linebacker position with Clemens and Beyer filling roles in the defensive secondary.
CLARK FORK
Up the road near Lake Pend Orielle, Clark Fork has a new head coach, but it’s a man who brings a truckload of experience with him. Andre Johansen has nearly a quarter century of football coaching on his resume. After relocating from California to northern Idaho last year, he answered the call when the team needed a head coach.
The Wampus Cats appear to have a solid senior class, led by OL/DL Thomas Butler, QB/DE Mateo Cruz, TE/LB Haylyn Ashford-Brown, and WR/DB Peyton Chapman. Cruz led the team in total touchdowns last season with six, followed by Chapman (5), and Ashford-Brown and junior Jason Mayorga, who each had a pair of touchdowns.
Cruz (5.9) and Ashford-Brown (5.4) led the team in tackles per game in 2025, followed by Butler (4.6) and Mayorga (4.3).
According to the Bonner County Bee, Johansen saw 21 players turn out for summer workouts and camps, which is a slight increase from last fall. Increased numbers, coupled with the return in talent, lends itself to optimism entering the 2026 campaign.