Despite penalties, Tigers beat Kuna 18-16

The phrase, "winning ugly," comes to mind when thinkiing about the Mountain Home Tigers' 18-16 win over Kuna Friday night at Tiger Field in Mountain Home.

On the night, 25 penalties were assessed by the officials for 233 yards, 14 of them against Mountain Home, for 136 yards.

The first half was the most exciting part of the game, with all the scoring coming in the first two quarters as the lead went back and forth.

Kuna received the kickoff to start the ball game and managed to move the ball from their own 40 down to the Tiger 12, before the drive stalled. Oren Whiting booted a 29-yard field goal to give the Kavemen a 3-0 lead with 10:11 left in the first quarter.

Mountain Home's first possession ended in a touchdown, on a 70-yard, eight-play drive, Matt Maurer taking it the final six yards for the score. Kyle Clark's PAT was no good, but Mountain Home had a 6-3 lead with 7:25 left in the first quarter.

Kuna answered with a 79-yard, 14-play drive, capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Jared Croy. With Oren Whiting's PAT, the Kavemen led, 10-6, four seconds into the second quarter.

Back came the Tigers, going 70 yards in six plays, Keith Yagues taking it in from a yard out.

The two-point conversion failed, but Mountain Home had the lead back, 12-10, with 8:33 left in the first half.

The Kavemen answered with another score, going 75 yards in six plays, Luke Durrant hitting Darin Williams on a 25-yard scoring slant for the touchdown. The two-point try failed, but Kuna had reclaimed the lead, 16-12, with 5:39 left in the first half.

Mountain Home then scored on an 81-yard scoring drive, the big play, a 51-yard screen pass from Keith Yagues to Matt Maurer for the touchdown. Kyle Clark's PAT was wide, but the Tigers were back in the lead, 18-16, with 3:31 left in the first half.

Kuna mounted another drive, but it was stopped by a fumble on the Tiger 11-yard line.

The first half ended with Mountain Home leading, 18-16.

Mountain Home made some defensive adjustments at half-time, holding the Kavemen to just 22 total yards in the second half.

The Tigers continued to move the ball well offensively, but the yellow (penalty) flag was their undoing in the second half. Nine penalties for over 90 yards in the second half killed scoring drives.

In fact, on a Mountain Home drive midway through the fourth quarter, an eight-yard touchdown run by Matt Maurer was called back by a penalty. The next play, with the ball moved back to the 18 by the penalty, Keith Yagues passed to Matt Maurer for a touchdown, but it, too, was called back by a Tiger holding penalty.

The drive ended on the next play, when Yagues was picked off in the end zone by Kuna's Derrick Durrant.

"I hate to blame officials, but I didn't see the stuff they were calling," said Mountain Home Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd, "and it was over, and over and over again. We had almost 500 yards in offense, and we had (just) three touchdowns. It drove me crazy!"

Coach Floyd was pleased with the defensive adjustments they made at halftime.

"We made our adjustments just like we should have been doing all game. The second half on offense, we went from our 10 to their 10, back and forth, and mental mistakes killed us -- I can't say anything more about it than that!"

Mountain Home had 306 yards rushing, led by sophomore Tyson Sessions, who had a career best 118 yards on 21 rushes. Matt Maurer finsihed with 95 yards and a touchdown on 13 rushes. Keith Yagues carried the ball 12 times for 86 yards and a score. Georgio Sutton also had 11 yards on three rushes.

Keith Yagues completed four of 13 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. He had one interception.

Matt Maurer had one reception for 51 yards and a score. Josh Reynolds caught one pass for 39 yards. Brock Zamora had a 12-yard reception, and Tyson Sessions caught one for 10 yards.

Kuna ended the night with 105 yards rushing and 209 yards through the air, but just 22 of those yards came in the second half.

Mountain Home improved to 5-2 overall, and 3-2 in SIC 4A conference football.

The Tigers close out their home schedule Friday night, hosting the Skyview Hawks at Tiger Field for Senior Night.

Coach Floyd expects a tough battle from Skyview, who is coming off a 28-0 win over Emmett last week.

"Emmett was hurt coming into that game. We knew Skyview was going to be a tough game no matter what. That's the game that's going to propel us into the playoffs."

Kickoff for Friday night's Mountain Home-Skyview game is 7 p.m. at Tiger Field.

The Tigers close out their regular season schedule next week at Caldwell, still with a shot at making the State Playoffs. If the Tigers get by Skyview, and Bishop Kelly beats Caldwell this week, the Tigers could then get the number two seed by beating Caldwell at Caldwell. The Caldwell game has been moved up a night to Oct. 28.