Homecoming 2013

Heather Adams and her father, Sam, pose for a photo after she was named Mountain Home High School's homecoming queen during Friday's game at Tiger Field.

It seemed that the crowning of Senior Heather Adams as this year's homecoming queen wasn't enough to break Mountain Home High School's streak of bad luck.

Facing one of the division's top teams on Friday the 13th, in a year also ending with the number 13, the Tigers hoped to overcome a losing streak spanning more than two seasons.

But with less than eight seconds remaining in the game, Mountain Home committed a penalty that put the Columbia Wildcats within field goal range. With the ball splitting the uprights as the seconds ticked away, the Tigers watched as their dreams were dashed during another homecoming heartbreaker.

Tigers' quarterback Jesse Cobos stops an attempted tackle as he rushes for needed yardage during the second half of Friday's homecoming game. He finished the game by completing six of 13 passes for 144 yards that included a touchdown.

Friday was about the closest that the Tigers had gotten to winning a homecoming game since 2008 when they edged the Skyview Hawks in a 14-9 nailbiter. At the same time, the team also hoped to snap a consecutive losing streak that started at the beginning of the 2011 season.

The fact that the game happened on Friday the 13th also didn't go unnoticed, said Principal Jeff Johnson.

"They were asking who had the idea of scheduling the game that day," he said. "They kept saying that nothing good can happen."

Mountain Home High School's Class of 2014 proved they had the most school spirit during this year's pep rally. The event gave students one final opportunity to motivate the varsity football team prior to this year's homecoming game.

The Mountain Home Tigers entered homecoming week with a sense of optimism that included several days worth of contests and inner-school competitions aimed at fueling support for the varsity football team. Activities over the past week allowed students from each grade level a chance to express their support for the school's varsity football team as they prepared for the skirmish against the Wildcats.

The 2013 homecoming week illustrated a high level of teamwork and mutual respect shared by all of his students, regardless of their class, Johnson said.

"I was super impressed with the kids this year," he said. "It was a fun week.

In particular, he highlighted the efforts of the freshman class, who started the week fully prepared for all of the pre-homecoming festivities.

While there was plenty of friendly class rivalries during the week, the students made it a point to respect one another and the hard work each class invested to showcase their Tiger pride and spirit.

The homecoming week celebration formally started Sept. 6 as each class pitched in to decorate the school and the city using elements from the homecoming theme, "In Every World, Tigers are #1." Across town, students from each class gave the windows of four, local-area businesses a "Tigers makeover."

Inside the high school meanwhile, students from the junior class took the worldly theme to heart as they went "somewhere over the rainbow" to create their own version of the magical Land of Oz.

In an adjoining hallway, the sophomores had turned their area into a representation of Willi Wonka's chocolate factory. Meanwhile, the freshmen had converted the high school annex into the post-apocalyptic world depicted in the Hunger Games series of books.

But it was the senior class that set the standard this year as they brought the children's story "Alice in Wonderland" to life. Their design came complete with a scaled down version of the castle that was home to the Queen of Hearts. Their creativity allowed the Class of 2014 to win this year's hallway decorating contest.

Looking back, Johnson was impressed with the amount of work each class invested to decorate the school. He also credited the efforts of each class to ensure the school's hallways and floors were cleaned and in immaculate condition after the yearly decorating contest ended.

"These things matter and show that these students care for their school," the principal said.

The friendly, inner-school rivalries continued into the evening hours last week as students duked it out during a series of contests aimed at securing bragging rights for their respective class. It started Sept. 9 in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium as the seniors battled the juniors across the net during a "macho man" volleyball match.

With the wins knotted at two apiece after four games, the juniors rallied in the final contest to post a 15-10 win to sweep the match.

On Sept. 11, the competition moved to Tiger Field during this year's powder puff football contest. The match up pitted girls from the senior and junior classes, all of whom volunteered to defend the gridiron for their respective class.

The seniors fumbled on their opening drive, allowing the juniors to score off a 20-yard pass just minutes into the opening half. With the score knotted at 6 at halftime, the juniors capitalized on a running play with five minutes left in the third quarter and held onto that lead to post a 12-6 victory over the graduating class.

Looking back on this year's competitions, Johnson admitted this was one of the few times in recent years in which the senior class didn't sweep the homecoming week contests. Although they generated some friendly rivalries between each class, in the end the students realized that these are friendly competitions were meant to inspire teamwork, he added.

These earlier contests set the stage for Friday's main homecoming events, which started with the student assembly in the gym. It included skits performed by each class, all of which sought to give the varsity football players added motivation for their game later that evening.

Meanwhile, the pep rally highlighted the winners of this year's homecoming contests. While the juniors walked away with this year's athletic competition honors, it was their older peers who swept the remaining contests. In addition to the hall decorating title, the Class of 2014 also claimed top honors in the window decorating, pep rally skit and school spirit competitions.

Friday's rally culminated with the naming of this year's homecoming king. But to get to that announcement, each of the four candidates vying for the crown had to successfully scramble through a multi-stage obstacle course before they dug through an inflatable swimming pool filled with shaving cream to find the name of this year's winner. In the end, it was Senior Solomon Chung-Hee who walked away as this year's king.

The school spirit shined in a variety of ways that afternoon, according to Johnson. For example, members the varsity football team invited three of the school's special needs students to participate in a game held during Friday's rally. Each of these students received a signed football from the team.

That same school spirit continued into the afternoon as hundreds of students took to the streets for this year's homecoming parade. Fans young and old lined American Legion Boulevard and East Jackson Street next to Hacker Middle School to give the Tigers one final motivational push before the night's game.

The principal said it was good to see so many students representing various clubs and organizations involved in this year's parade.

Outlets like these are key to helping these students enjoy their years of school, he said.