Clash off

KELLOGG — After weeks of planning, Kellogg High School canceled its upcoming spirit game with Bonners Ferry.

In a statement from the school on Tuesday, the school expressed its sadness at having to cancel what would have been the inaugural Clash of the Claws, due to the sudden, unexpected death of one of KHS’s longtime assistant football coaches.

It was announced on Monday morning that KHS graduate Craig Lewis had passed away — Lewis, besides his aforementioned coaching position, was a longtime Wildcat athletic supporter, and over the past two decades his children and now grandchildren have all been involved in Kellogg athletics.

Clash of the Claws was scheduled for this coming Saturday at Bonners Ferry High School, with both the girls and boys varsity teams, along with hundreds of students and community supporters scheduled to make the 2-hour drive north.

However, due to the scheduling of Lewis’s memorial service, the event was canceled and the games moved to Friday.

Due to a shortage of available officials, the games that were rescheduled for this Friday have now been canceled as well, and pushed back to Feb. 1.

“Many of our hearts will be supporting this family on Saturday instead,” the release from KHS read. “We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused for both the Kellogg and Bonners Ferry communities.”

Bonners Ferry was classy even in their disappointment.

"It is beautiful that they want to rally together and prioritize the heart of their community in this way, so although Badgers are disappointed, we are also very understanding," said Abby Panabacker, BFHS leadership teacher.

KHS Activities Director Heather Goodner would like everyone to know that there are plans in the works to put together some sort of community event, which would allow the students and cheerleaders to show off the special routines that had been choreographed for this weekend, however those dates have not been released at this time.

Despite this devastating loss, it cannot be understated how important the food drive was for the two communities and the Shoshone News-Press will report those numbers just as soon as it's released.