JV Tigers rally to shut down Middleton 41-0

After a scoreless first quarter, the Mountain Home Tigers JV put up 41 points over the last three quarters to beat the Middleton JV 41-0 last Thursday at Tiger Field in Mountain Home.

DJ Hale scored twice in the second quarter, the first on a 30-yard touchdown run, the second from 10 yards out. Austin Clark booted both PATs to put the Tigers up 14-0 at halftime.

DJ Hale scored for the third time on the night in the third quarter, and Enrique Varela had a seven-yard touchdown run also in the third, as Mountain Home upped its lead to 27-0 after three quarters.

Austin Clark scored on a 39-yard run in the fourth and Gage Curtis capped off the scoring on the night with a four-yard touchdown run. Clark booted five of six PATs on the night as the Tigers rolled to a 41-0 win.

"The defense stepped up big for us," said Tiger JV head coach Dallan Rupp. "We played an offense similar to the one when we faced Caldwell, and we didn't do too well against them, but against Middleton the defense came up big. They only allowed 121 rushing yards and zero passing yards, while causing six turnovers.

"Offensively, we had another big day as well, rushing for 395 yards. That's the way we want to do things -- control the game with a strong defense and a strong running attack."

The Tigers had three running backs with over 100 yards rushing in the game. Enrique Varela rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown on eight rushes, Austin Clark had 130 yards and a score on 15 carries and DJ Hale rushed 11 times for 117 yards and three scores. Gage Curtis had two carries for four yards and a touchdown.

Alex Rodriguez passed four times, completing two of them for 17 yards. Luke Filipovich caught both passes.

Defensively, Jesse Corbett led the Tigers with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Dakota Ramos had seven tackles, Jeff Checketts had five tackles and a forced fumble and Ricky Castillo had four tackles and a fumble recovery. John Payton and Enrique Varela both had three tackles. Varela had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and Payton intercepted a pass. Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Ciotti-Lucas both had two tackles. Rodriguez recovered two fumbles and Ciotti-Lucas had one fumble recovery.

The win improved the JV Tigers to 3-1 on the season. The Mountain Home squad travels to Columbia tonight to face off against the JV Wildcats.