Knights smash Tigers 63-10

Any hopes the Mountain Home Tigers might have had of pulling off an upset over the unbeaten Bishop Kelly Knights last Friday night at Bishop Kelly were shattered by the end of the first quarter, if not before.

 Mountain Home went three-and-out and punted their first possession of the ball game. 

 The Knights, on the other hand, went 73 yards in three plays, all runs by Max Davis, the touchdown coming on a 15-yard run.  Matt Thomas booted the PAT to make it 7-0, Bishop Kelly, with 9:51 left in the first quarter.

 The Tigers again went three-and-out, but a poor punt gave Bishop Kelly the ball at the Mountain Home 24-yard line. 

 On the first play, Knights quarterback Cody Hawkins, the son of Boise State University head football coach Dan Hawkins, threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Bleymaier, son of BSU Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier.  Matt Thomas' PAT made it 14-0, with 7:49 still left in the first quarter.

 Another one, two, three, punt for Mountain Home gave the Knights the ball back, and a good runback of the punt had the Knights at the Mountain Home 42-yard line.  Four plays later, Cody Hawkins passed to Tommy Bleymaier, who then lateraled it to a trailing Max Davis, who took it in for a 25-yard score.  Matt Thomas missed the PAT, but the Knights were up 20-0, with 5:25 still left in the first quarter.

 After going one, two, three punt again, Mountain Home got a break when they recovered the fumbled punt return at the Tiger 42-yard line.  Sparked by the turnover, the Tigers were able to move the ball down into the red zone, before the drive stalled and Bishop Kelly took over on downs on their own 11-yard line.

 Cody Hawkins then found Steve Tracy behind the Tiger defenders and connected on an 89-yard scoring strike.  The two-point conversion failed, but Bishop Kelly led 26-0 in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

 Mountain Home's offensive woes continued in the second quarter, and with the Tigers lined up to punt, the snap from center sailed over Kyle Clark's head into the end zone, and out, for a safety, upping the score to 28-0 with 10:58 left in the first half.

 After punting the ball back to Bishop Kelly after the safety, Mountain Home got their only touchdown of the night, as Josh Reynolds picked off a Cody Hawkins pass and zig-zagged over 60 yards for a touchdown.  Kyle Clark's PAT made it 28-7, with 7:48 left in the first half.

 The Knights would score three more times before the first half ended.  Max Davis scored from three yards out, Andy Silsby took it in from two yards out, and Cody Hawkins passed 37 yards to Casey Coyle for another score, as the Knights led 49-7 at halftime.

 Bishop Kelly scored on their first possession of the second half, going 85 yards in seven plays, Cody Hawkins again connecting with Steve Tracy for a 36-yard touchdown pass.  With the PAT by Matt Thomas, the Bishop Kelly lead was 56-7, with 8:56 left in the third quarter.

 Mountain Home moved the ball well on their opening drive of the third quarter, but on fourth and goal from the Bishop Kelly five, Shawn Morin was tackled for a loss at the 14, the Knights taking over on downs.

 The Mountain Home defense rose to the occasion, forcing the Knights to punt for the first time on the night. 

 The Tigers mounted another drive that lasted 12 plays and nearly six minutes.  Kyle Clark booted a 33-yard field goal to make it 56-10, with 6:28 left in the ball game.

 Mountain Home again stopped the Knights and forced another punt, but two plays later Mountain Home fumbled the ball back to the Knights at the Mountain Home 33-yard line.

 Two penalties aided the Knights in moving the ball down deep, and Andrew Carnosso took it in from a yard out for the final score of the night, Bishop Kelly winning, 63-10.

 Mountain Home Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd was disappointed in his team's effort at Bishop Kelly.

 "We didn't show up again.  It's frustrating.  I don't know why.  We didn't play the way we practiced.  We had good practices, and when it came to the game, they did  nothing  that we told them to do."

 The Tigers rushed the ball 51 times for 206 yards.  Tyson Sessions led the way with 70 yards rushing on 11 rushes.  Matt Maurer rushed the ball 19 times for 68 yards, and Keith Yagues had 13 carries for 60 yards.  Georgio Sutton rushed six times for 19 yards, and Shawn Morin had two rushes for minus 11 yards.

 Keith Yagues completed two of 12 passes on the night for 34 yards.  One was a 32-yard pass to Matt Maurer, the other a two-yard pass to Georgio Sutton.

 Bishop Kelly rushed the ball 31 times for 261 yards, and passed for 286 yards.  Knights starting quarterback Cody Hawkins was 9 for 11 for 279 yards and five touchdowns.  He had one pass picked off.

 The Tigers fall to 4-2 overall, and 2-2 in SI. 4A conference play.  Although their chance of winning the conference crown is now over, Coach Floyd indicates they still have a chance of making the playoffs as the number two seed.

 "We've got three to go, and if we win out, then we've got a chance at the playoffs, as long as BK wins out."

 This Friday night the Tigers will be home against the Kuna Kavemen, who picked up their first win of the season their last time out. 

 "They're coming off a bye week coming into us," said Floyd.  "They're been struggling.  They lost a lot of seniors last year, but they're always physical, and they're going to be tough.  We respect them."

 Kickoff for the Mountain Home-Kuna Kavemen football game is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at Tiger Field.