Tigers battle tough but fall to Knights 16-6 in state playoff game

The Bishop Kelly Knights advanced to the state title game by beating the Mountain Home Tigers 16-6, last Friday night in the state 4A playoff semifinals at Bishop Kelly.

The Bishop Kelly Knights will defend their State 4A football title once again against the Pocatello Indians Friday night.

Mountain Home won the battle of statistics, gaining 315 total yards to Bishop Kelly's 247, but they also won the penalty battle, getting flagged for 73 yards in penalties, including two 15-yard personal foul penalties that kept Bishop Kelly drives alive, and the ball out of the hands of the Tigers.

Then again, the stats that count the most are what shows on the scoreboard when the final buzzer goes off.

Mountain Home received the ball to start the ball game, and went three-and-out, punting the ball to the Knights, who started their opening drive on their own 48.

The Knights moved the ball the 52 yards in eight plays, Kyle Cefalo getting two big third down plays, one a 20-yard pass to Max Adcox down to the Tiger 20, and the other a five-yard pass to Ryan Bokan for the score. Cefalo's PAT was wide left, but the Knights took the lead, 6-0, with 6:44 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers moved the ball from their 30 down to the Bishop Kelly 28 before the drive stalled and the Knights took over on downs on their own 34-yard line.

Justice Mariscal had a first down run of 51 yards down to the Tiger 15, but the drive stalled on the 11, and Mountain Home took over on downs from there.

The defenses controlled the game, with the Tigers finally scoring after taking over on downs at the Bishop Kelly 47-yard line late in the second quarter.

A 47-yard run by Zacq Hale gave the Tigers a first-and-goal at the Bishop Kelly two-yard line. Jake Posey took it in from there for the score. Kyle Clark's PAT was blocked by the Knights, and the first half ended with the score knotted at 6-6.

The Tigers kicked off to Bishop Kelly to start the third quarter, and Justice Mariscal returned it 60 yards to the Tiger 25-yard line.

Two plays later, Kyle Cefalo connected with Ryan Bokan for a 25-yard score. Cefalo added the PAT, and the Knights led, 13-6, just 59 seconds into the second half.

Mountain Home managed one first down in their first possession of the second half, before punting the ball back the Knights.

Bishop Kelly manage to move the ball down to the Tiger three-yard line, where they had a first and goal.

The Mountain Home defense stepped it up, and kept them from scoring a touchdown, Kyle Cefalo booting a 22-yard field goal to put the Knights up, 16-6, with 4:41 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers got big runs by Zacq Hale and Tyson Sessions on their next drive, and moved the ball down to the Bishop Kelly nine-yard line, where on fourth and seven, the Tigers went for it, the pass falling incomplete, and Bishop Kelly taking over on downs.

Neither team moved the ball with much success the rest of the way, although a couple of personal foul penalties kept Bishop Kelly drives alive.

The Tigers stopped one Knights drive with a fumble recovery, and Bishop Kelly picked off a couple Tiger passes to kill Mountain Home drives, the game ending 16-6 in favor of the Knights of Bishop Kelly.

Despite the loss, Mountain Home Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd was proud of his Tiger squad.

"It was a tough loss, but the kids played really hard. I was proud of them. They played hard like that all year long, the ball just didn't bounce their way this time.

"We had tough penalties at times, and geeze, you get them to fumble and it falls right in their hands -- it just didn't bounce our way, and when you get this far, those things can make a big impact.

"The best thing about it was these guys go out winners, and it's awesome to see that, because they worked so hard, and it's great to see them turn things around.

"This year we just opened the door, maybe next year we'll knock it down!

"Hats off to BK and their coaching staff and their kids. They played hard too. Usually when the ball bounces your way it's because you're playing harder."

Mountain Home rushed the ball 44 times for 204 yards, led by Zacq Hale, who had 96 yards on 10 carries. Robert Daniels rushed the ball 14 times for 53 yards. Tyson Sessions carried twice for 21 yards, Jake Posey had 12 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushes, Chris Knudson rushed twice for eight yards, Matt Ward had two carries for six yards, Nick Barrie one rush for four, Tallon Pauley carried once for three yards, and Kyle Clark had one carry for one yard.

Jake Posey completed eight passes for 111 yards. Kori Andrews caught three passes for 35 yards, Ricky Lee had two catches for 29 yards, Robert Daniels caught one for 22, Nick Barrie caught one for 14, and Brandon Doble, with his 11-yard catch kept his streak of catching at least one pass in all 11 games the Tigers played this season.

Kyle Cefalo completed seven of 17 passes for 115 yards and two scores, and the Knights, behind Justice Mariscal's 110 yards on 23 carries, rushed the ball 35 times for 132 yards.

Coach Floyd loses 18 seniors from this year's Tiger football team, and this year's District III 4A football Coach of the Year says they will be missed.

"We lose a lot of good seniors. Tyson Sessions is a great player and a great individual. Kyle Clark, Bob Daniels, Zacq Hale, Brandon Doble -- there's just so many -- Corey McGuire, Kori Andrews, Blake Pharis -- they all did a lot for us, and they're the ones that started it, and hopefully we just keep things going."

Floyd indicated that losing all those seniors does not mean they'll be hurting for players next year.

"We've got a lot coming back next year, too, I believe about five or six on both sides of the ball in key positions, so we don't lose everything, and our JV team had an excellent year and they're used to winning, so they're ready to go."

Coach Floyd again wanted to express his thanks for all the community support they had.

"I'd like to thank the mayor, the fire department, the police and the whole community for the escort out of town Friday. That was really awesome and the coaches and the players all really appreciated that."

The Tigers end their season 7-4 overall.

The Knights have a date with Pocatello Friday night in Bronco Stadium for the 4A State Championship.