Tigers claw Bulldogs for 26-7 homecoming win

Mountain Home Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd and his staff noticed some areas on Nampa game films that showed a weak link in the Bulldog defense. They decided to abandon their spread offense, noted more for passing, for one emphasizing the running game.

The result was a running game of over 340 yards and a 26-7 win Friday night at Tiger Field.

"We saw a weakness in their defense and we really worked to exploit it, and that was running-wise," said Coach Floyd.

"Obviously it panned out for us, as we had well over 300 yards rushing. Passing really wasn't an option -- it was secondary this week -- and to top it off, you've got to figure that Nampa was practicing for five-wide (spread) all week long, from all our passing and stuff like that. We saw something different and went right at it, so it's a credit to the kids to be able to switch their focus like that and get after it."

Neither team generated much offense to begin with, and after the Tigers were forced to punt for the third straight time, Colby Lord recovered a fumble on the punt return, and Mountain Home had great field position at the Nampa 35-yard line.

After an incomplete pass, Tallon Pauley ran to the Bulldog 20 for a first down. Pauley carried again to the 16. After off-setting penalties, Chris Knudson burst through the Bulldog defense for a 16-yard score. The run for two failed, but the Tigers led, 6-0, with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Nampa's Quad Morris threw deep, but Tiger free safety Kyle Kerfoot intercepted the pass at the Mountain Home 34-yard line.

Tallon Pauley again led the Tigers' drive, picking up nine yards on first down, and then rambling 42 yards down to the Bulldog's 16-yard-line. Chris Knudson moved it down to the nine. Matt Ward carried to the six. Jake Posey took it in from there on a quarterback keeper up the middle. Chris Knudson ran in the two-point conversion, and the Tigers led, 14-0, with 10:20 left in the first half.

Mountain Home had two good drives stopped by fumbles, but the Tiger defense continued to stop the Nampa offense, holding them to just 27 yards rushing and 21 through the air first half, and Mountain Home went in the locker room up, 14-0 at halftime.

Nampa received the ball to start the second half, but went three-and-out, as did the Tigers on their first series.

Nampa's Quaid Morris sparked Nampa's second possession, as the Bulldogs went 83 yards in eight plays, Kip Ramos scoring from two yards out. Logan Cicona's PAT brought the Bulldogs within seven, 14-7, with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers struck back, going 60 yards in seven plays, Jake Posey passing six yards to Billy Derome for the score. The two-point run failed as Mountain home led, 20-7, with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

Nampa's next drive moved them 70 yards, but the Tiger defense stiffened, and held them on downs at the Mountain Home 10-yard line.

Mountain Home then made several key third down conversions to move the ball down the field, 90 yards in 12 plays, consuming nearly seven minutes, Jake Posey taking it in from the one for the score. The two-point run again failed, but the Tigers were up, 26-7, with 3:26 left in the ball game.

Mountain Home recovered the fumbled kickoff by Nampa at the Bulldogs 29 yard-line. The Tigers picked up a first down to keep the clock going, and Mountain Home came away with a 26-7 win.

"The kids were disappointed about last week (loss to Bishop Kelly)," said Coach Floyd. "They knew that they (we) were the better team and didn't quite get up for it, but we came back this week and played very well. I was impressed with our play on both sides of the ball. They executed the game plan and did a good job. I thought we played our best game of the year, but I don't think that's as good as we can play."

The Tigers rushed for 342 yards, and added 38 yards through the air. Matt Ward had a career high rushing game, garnering 112 yards on 12 carries. Tallon Pauley ended the night with 98 yards on 13 carries. Chris Knudson rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown off 15 rushes, Jake Posey rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns on three carries, Ty Kleffner rushed three times for eight yards, Jesse Donez carried once for two yards, Matt San Nicholas carried one time for one yard, and Dan Katsules carried once for minus two yards.

Jake Posey completed two of seven passes for 13 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Kerfoot passed once for 25 yards. Billy Derome caught two passes for 13 yards, and Jesse Donez had one for 25 yards.

The Tigers held Nampa's offense which was second in the league to just 121 yards rushing and 92 passing.

Defensively Chris Knudson and Matt Ward led the Tigers.

Knudson was in on 18 tackles and had 1.5 sacks, and Ward was in on 17 tackles.

The Tigers improved to 3-2 overall, and 3-1 in SIC 4A conference play. Nampa fell to 4-3 and 3-1.

Mountain Home travels to Skyview to play the Skyview Hawks Friday night. The Hawks are winless, but Coach Floyd is definitely not overlooking them.

"They're a very underrated team. Although they haven't won a game, I really think that what they do well is what we're weak at, and we need to address our weakness on defense and if we shore those up, it should be a good game."

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday night at Skyview High School in Nampa.