Tigers enjoy strong turnout as they prepare for home opener on Friday

The Mountain Home Tigers have been working hard in practice preparing for their football season opener at home against the Eagle Mustangs this Friday night.

Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd lost 18 players from last year's squad that made the 4A Playoffs and finished 7-4 overall, but he has been pleased with this year's turnout, which numbered about 35-36 on the freshman team, and the JV and varsity both around 31-32.

"It's good to see that kind of turnout. We've got about 15-16 seniors and a lot of juniors and just one sophomore on the varsity this year."

Coach Floyd, in his fourth year as head coach of the Tigers, likes the makeup of this year's squad.

"Things look good. If the kids gel together and get that chemistry, we should be better than last year, and a lot of that i due to the kids academic-wise -- football 101 smart. These kids are very coachable, they do what we ask, and that was one of our downfalls last year. We had some times when they'd do their own thing and that usually resulted in an opponent touchdown or something else, but I really strongly feel we should be in the top three in the state academic team-wise. We have some really smart kids. They work hard and are very coachable.

"All across the board I think we'll be better in most positions, besides the O-line. We had a pretty good line last year and these new guys have big shoes to fill. We actually have two returning starters from the O-line. We're trying to find three, and I think we have found them. We're a little smaller than last year, but we've moved the offense around a little bit so that they don't need to push people off the ball.

"This year should be pretty exciting on our offensive side."

What changes can the fans expect to see offensively from the Tigers?

After a pause and a sly grin, Floyd said, "come to the games. We open against Eagle on Aug. 31."

Coach Floyd sees the 4A Southern Idaho Conference to be strong this year, and, "the best in the state from top to bottom. There's no off game, it's going to be a week-in, week-out battle."

The Tigers unveil their new offense Friday night at home against the Eagle Mustangs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Tiger Field.