Tigers fall to BK 40-7

Turnovers can kill drives and give your opponent a short field to work with. Such was the case Friday night at Tiger Field, as Mountain Home turned the ball over four times, with the Knights from Bishop Kelly cashing in for a 40-7 SIC 4A conference win.

Mountain Home coughed up the ball on the second play of the game, when Tiger quarterback Brock Zamora had his arm hit while running with the ball. The Knights recovered the ball on the Mountain Home 21-yard line, and five plays later, Max Davis took it in from nine yards out. Zach Thiry's PAT put the Knights up, 7-0, just 155 seconds into the ball game.

Mountain Home managed to hold on to the ball their next possession, but went three-and-out and had to punt the ball away.

Bishop Kelly got a great run-back on the punt return, and were back in business at the Tiger 26. Tim Brady capped off a five-play drive, taking it in from the four. Zach Thiry's PAT made it 14-0, with 4:56 still left in the first quarter.

Mountain Home put together a 10-play drive that moved the ball from the Tiger 20 down to the B.K. 28-yard line, before they were pushed back to the 34, and had to punt it back.

The Knights had it for just one play, as Mike Thornsberry stepped in front of a Bishop Kelly receiver and intercepted Tim Brady's pass, returning it 26 yards to the Bishop Kelly 28.

Four plays later, Keith Yagues took it in from the 15, and with Stephen Reinschmidt's PAT, it was 14-7, with 9:37 left in the first half.

Bishop Kelly moved the ball from their 30, down to the Tiger 10, before a delay of game penalty and sack moved it back out to the 24. Zach Thiry tried a 41-yard field goal that missed.

Mountain Home's next possession produced another fumble, recovered by the Knights at the Tiger 32-yard line.

The Knights managed to get down to the Mountain Home 13, before Brady was sacked back to the 19, and the Knights failed on a fake field goal pass attempt.

The first half ended with Mountain Home still very much in a 14-7 ballgame.

Bishop Kelly received the ball to start the second half, and moved it 57 yards in nine plays, Jeremy Kannenberg taking it the final four for the score. Zach Thiry's PAT was no good, but the Knights led 20-7 with 8:08 left in the third quarter.

Mountain Home's first possession of the second half saw the Tigers move the ball from their 20, down to the Knights' 17, before turning it over on downs at the B.K. 18.

The Knights then took it 82 yards for a score, the big play, a 55-yard pass from Tim Brady to Max Davis for the score. The two-point run failed, but Bishop Kelly led, 26-7, with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers went one-two-three-punt their next possession, and Bishop Kelly, who averaged starting on their 49-yard line on the night, started from their 48.

Four plays later, they were in the end zone again, Andy Silsby scoring from four yards out. Zach Thiry booted the PAT to make it 33-7, B.K. with 10:32 left in the game.

Mountain Home went three-and-out again, but the bad thing was they started from their own eight.

The Knights then started from the Mountain Home 32, but a penalty moved it out to the 40. Cody Hawkins (son of B.S.U. head football coach Dan Hawkins) took over at quarterback, and the sophomore connected with Zach Thiry on a 40-yard scoring strike. Thiry added the PAT to close out the scoring on a 40-7 Bishop Kelly win.

"They are a good, solid ball club," said Tiger football coach Tony Kerfoot, "and before long, they break you down somewhere -- special teams or turnovers and stuff like that -- and they do a pretty good job in all aspects of the game, and eventually they got a short field a couple of times, and when they did, they didn't have any problems putting it in the end zone."

Mountain Home had a tough time running against the Knights defense, getting 108 tough yards on 37 rushes.

Keith Yagues led the Tigers with 60 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Brock Zamora had 12 rushes for 43 yards. Matt Maurer carried four times for six yards, and Billy O'Brien had one carry for minus one yard.

Through the air, Brock Zamora was five for 12 for 66 yards. Mike Thornsberry had two receptions for 35 yards, Billy O'Brien had two for 31 yards, and Shawn Morin had one catch for no yards.

The Knights from Bishop Kelly rushed the ball 41 times for 183 yards. They completed eight of 14 passes for 168 yards.

Defensively, Kole Spaulding led the Tigers, getting in on 17 tackles, including four solos. Matt Maurer had 15 tackles and a sack, fumble recovery and a pass deflection. Shawn Morin had 13 tackles, and Tyson Sessions had 12 tackles including a sack.

Mountain Home plays their final home game of the regular season this Friday night when they face the Caldwell Cougars. The Cougars are coming off a win over Emmett to improve to 2-1 in conference play.

Mountain Home is 1-2 in conference play, and needs a win over Caldwell to keep their playoff hopes alive.

"Our backs are to the wall right now," said Coach Kerfoot of the Caldwell game. "Caldwell's a good ball club and the last couple weeks have been playing some good football, so we'll have to step up and get ready to play."

Kickoff for the Tiger's final home game is at 7 p.m. Friday night at Tiger Field.