Tigers beat Huskies, one game away from playoffs

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The Mountain Home Tigers moved a step closer to a conference championship and playoff spot with a 14-12 win over the Emmett Huskies last Friday night at Tiger Field.

The rain and wind played havoc throughout the game as the Tigers fumbled the ball away three times, giving Emmett a short field most of the night.

Emmett got on the scoreboard in the first minute of the second quarter, going 49 yards in six plays, Brennan Fridley passing 16 yards to Nick Hovda for the score. The PAT kick was no good and the Huskies led 6-0 with 11:13 left in the first half.

Mountain Home fumbled the ball away on its next possession but held off the Huskies and got the ball back, going 80 yards in 13 plays, Jake Posey scoring from a yard out. Danny Snelgrow's PAT was blocked, and the score was tied at 6-6 with 4:48 left in the first half.

Emmett started deep in their own territory and a short punt gave the Tigers the ball on the Emmett 31. An Emmett penalty put the Tigers on the Huskies' 18, but Mountain Home managed only two more yards in three plays, and Danny Snelgrow's 33-yard field goal just missed, as the first half ended with the score still tied.

Mountain Home broke the 6-6 tie on its third possession of the second half, going 77 yards in five plays, Matt Ward getting 34 yards on a big run, and Tallon Pauley getting the final 31, including a 20-yard romp for the score. Jake Posey ran in the two-point conversion to put the Tigers up, 14-6, with 1:58 left in the third quarter.

Two major penalties helped Emmett's scoring drive in the fourth quarter. The Huskies scored on a 20-yard pass play, but the pass for two for the tie was knocked down, and the Tigers led 14- 12 with 5:12 left in the ball game.

Emmett recovered an onside kick at the 50, but fumbled on the next play, Mountain Home recovering on the Tiger 47. The Tigers were able to run out of the clock, moving down to the Emmett 25 before time expired, and winning 14-12.

"I thought our defense played pretty well," said Tiger head football coach Brian Foyd.

"Emmett always plays us tough and it's hard to run against them, and in those (weather) conditions, it was pretty hard to pass. Hats off to our guys for playing tough and getting the win."

The Tigers only attempted four passes, and none were completed. They rushed for 281 yards, led by Tallon Pauley's 135 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Matt Ward had 54 yards on eight rushes, Jake Posey rushed 13 times for 52 yards and a score, Chris Knudson rushed for 33 yards on 13 carries, and Nick Barrie carried once for seven yards.

Emmett rushed 17 times for just 27 yards. Brennan Fridley completed 14 of 31 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

The win improved the Tigers to 5-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Tigers close out their regular season schedule Friday night at Kuna against the Kavemen, who got past Bishop Kelly 13-7 last Friday night to improve to 4-2 in conference.

Coach Floyd expects a tough battle from the Kavemen Friday night at Kuna. "Mashburn's a stud. If they make the playoffs, he'll probably be the Player of the Year for this conference, and he has a lot of carries, they love to give it to him, and they'll put in different spots to give him the ball, and if you focus on him too much, then Durrant beats you deep, and they throw a little short hitch to him and he's gone.

"Their quarterback, Galloway, he's not too fast, but he's kind of hard to bring down at times, and he throws a pretty accurate ball and stands tall in the pocket, and their offensive line is good, obviously, they have the leading rusher in the SIC. Their defense is good, they have a guy leading the league in sacks, and he plays fullback as well, so they like to use that combination of speed, strength and speed. They're starting to play well, so it's going to be a tough game."

The Tigers currently lead the conference, with Nampa second and Kuna tied with Bishop Kelly, but with their 13-7 win over the Knights last week, Kuna is third.

Coach Floyd said this is a must game for both his Tigers and Kuna.

"They're in the same exact situation we are. If they lose, they're out. If we win, we're in, and if we lose, we're out â€" we drop to fourth. We definitely don't want to go home. I think we're much too talented of a team to not be going to the playoffs. If we take care of business, we'll be all right."

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday night at Kuna.

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