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Written By: Will Hoenike

There’s a new sheriff in town at Lake City High School.

Brian Fulp, a 27-year-old who had been on staff with the Wolves for the past two seasons, ascended to the top spot over the summer when Bryce Erickson resigned in late May following two seasons at the helm. Returning to the program to help ease the late transition is Kelly Reed, a former Lake City assistant who will assume the role of associate head coach and offensive coordinator. With the uncertainty behind them, Fulp is excited to see what his players can do on the field.

“I am most excited for this team to compete and improve as a unit,” Fulp said. “These seniors are battle-tested with adversity and they will be ready to prove themselves.”

Coming off of a 2-6 season, the Timberwolves are focused on limiting big plays defensively. Lake City allowed, on average, over 44 points per game in its six losses last season and was outscored 145-44 in Inland Empire League games, causing the team to miss the 5A playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

On that front, Lake City returns three linebackers from last season in seniors Zane Lettau, Lucas Briner and Nick Kaufman. They’ll play behind a defensive line anchored by senior Jackson Bronsell. Accomplishing Fulp’s stated goal of limiting big plays will help the offense, which is led by sophomore quarterback Chris Irvin and the strong running of Lettau.

Irvin has a trio of returning pass-catchers to throw the ball downfield to in Briner, Kaufman and fellow senior Travis Jerome. But the heart of the offense appears to be a physical running game, led by Lettau. Lettau, a bruising, 245-pound runner, should shoulder more of the load after the graduation of all-conference running back Grant Clark this past spring. Clark was usually – and understandably – the primary ball carrier but Lettau got his opportunities, including an 11-carry, 80-yeard performance against arch-rival Coeur d’Alene last fall. He also had 72 yards and a touchdown against Lewiston.

(Lettau, it should be noted, is an honor-roll student and qualified for State in wrestling last season)

As mentioned earlier, Fulp isn’t completely new to the program. He spent two years on staff within the program, so he understands the team’s personnel. And he also understands the 5A Inland Empire League.

“Coeur d’Alene has been the established power for the past few seasons,” Fulp noted. “All three other teams (Lake City, Lewiston and Post Falls) will be competing to unseat them as the top team.”

Lake City’s in-town rival is averaging – averaging – 8.5 wins per season since 2009, so the praise is well deserved. In that nine-season stretch, Coeur d’Alene has beaten Lake City seven times. It probably goes without saying that it’d be extra sweet for the Timberwolves to be the team that knocks the Vikings off.

Can they do it? As the old saying goes, that’s why you play the game. The Timberwolves play six of their first seven games at home before going on the road, so to speak, to face Coeur d’Alene on October 12. If Fulp and his team are successful in limiting big plays, running the football and developing a complimentary passing attack, they could have a lot of momentum going into that cross-town matchup in mid-October.