Tigers lose 49-43 in state semi-finals

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mountain Home Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd said in a pre-game radio interview that Friday night's matchup against Hillcrest in the state 4A semi-finals game could be a high-scoring affair, with the last team to have the ball coming out the winner.

His words turned out to be prophetic as the Hillcrest Knights outscored the Tigers 49-43.

Mountain Home received the ball to start the ball game, and went on a 65-yard, 13-play drive that consumed 7:10 off the clock. Kyle Kerfoot passed to Jesse Donez on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Chris Maholick's PAT made it 7-0, Tigers, with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

It looked early on that the Tigers might have some answers to the Hillcrest double-wing offense. On the Knights' first drive, Devin Droghei picked up one yard on the first play, Jordan Spiers lost a yard on second down and Droghei picked up five yards on third down before the Knights punted the ball back to the Tigers.

Mountain Home managed to pick up three first downs on their next possession, but the drive stalled at the Hillcrest 37-yard line and the Tigers punted it away.

Hillcrest then went on an 84-yard, eight-play drive, Devin Droghei taking it in from 20 yards out. The run for the two-point conversion try failed, and the Tigers led, 7-6, with 9:40 left in the first half.

Jesse Donez ran the kickoff return back to the Hillcrest 19-yard line where the Tigers began a six-play drive, Kyle Kerfoot passing to Ricky Lee for an eight-yard score. With Chris Maholick's PAT the Tigers led, 14-6, with 7:19 left in the first half.

Mountain Home tried an onside kick, but Hillcrest took over at the 50, and took little time to score, going the 50 yards in three plays, Jordan Spiers taking it 40 yards for the score. Again the two-point run failed, and the Tigers led 14-12 with 6:13 left in the half.

Ricky Lee received the kickoff and faked the handoff to Jesse Donez, and took it 80 yards for the score. Chris Maholick's PAT made it 21-12, Tigers with 5:59 left in the half.

Hillcrest came back and scored, going 73 yards in 10 plays, Jordan Spiers getting 58 of them, Devin getting the final six yards for the score. Jordan Spiers ran in the two-point conversion to bring the Knights to within one, 21-20, with 2:30 left.

Mountain Home moved the ball down to the Knights 31-yard line before four straight passes fell incomplete and the Tigers turned the ball over on downs with 29 seconds left in the half. Hillcrest let the clock run out with the Tigers up, 21-20, at the half.

The Knights received the ball to start the third quarter, and Hillcrest scored in less than two minutes, as they went 74 yards in five plays, Devin Droghei taking it the final 29 yards for the score. Jordan Spiers ran in the two-point conversion to put the Knights up 28-21 with 10:10 left in the third quarter.

Mountain Home moved the ball down the field, and scored again, Kyle Kerfoot taking it the final yard. With Chris Maholick's PAT the Tigers tied the game at 28-28 with 7:42 left in the third quarter.

Hillcrest then went 58 yards in four plays, Jordan Spiers scoring from 44 yards out. Leighton Murri booted the PAT to give Hillcrest a 35-28 lead with 5:57 left in the third quarter.

A 50-yard return by Ricky Lee to the Hillcrest 25 was nullified by a penalty by the Tigers, and the Tigers ended up starting at the Mountain Home 25. The Tigers moved the ball down to the Hillcrest 23 before the drive stalled, the Tigers turning the ball over on downs at the Hillcrest 24.

Hillcrest then marched down the field again, going 76 yards in six plays, Jordan Spiers taking it in from two yards out. Leighton Murri's PAT made it 42-28, Hillcrest, with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Knights then pooched a high, short kick that went off several players before being recovered by the Knights at the Mountain Home 39 as the third quarter came to a close.

The Knights wasted little time, taking just three plays, Devin Droghei taking it 35 yards for a score. With Leighton Murri's PAT, the Knights led 49-28 with 11:15 left in the ball game.

Down by 21 points, the Tigers could have folded, but they did not come all that way just to quit. Mountain Home went on an 80-yard scoring drive, Kyle Kerfoot throwing to Tommy Miller for a 12-yard score. Tallon Pauley ran in the two-point conversion to make it 49-36 with 7:24 left in the game.

The Tigers then recovered the onside kick and took over on their own 49-yard line. They moved the ball down to the Hillcrest eight-yard line, but a bad pitch put the ball back to the 19. From there Tallon Pauley took a pitch from Kyle Kerfoot and stopped and threw to Ricky Lee for a 19-yard score. Joshua Bush's PAT brought the Tigers back to within six, 49-43, with 5:37 left.

Mountain Home tried another on-side kick, but the Knights recovered at the 50.

The Tigers defense stopped the Hillcrest running backs, making it fourth and nine from the Mountain Home 48-yard line.

Matt Astel dropped back to pass, but ended up having to run with it, and eluded the Tiger defenders, picking up 23 yards down to the Mountain Home 25, good for a first down to keep the drive going and the clock moving. The Knights were able to pick up another first down and run the clock down for the 49-43 win.

"We really had our chances," said Tiger head coach Brian Floyd. "We had three fourth down plays that we couldn't stop. I thought it was going to be a shoot-out anyway. We obviously we didn't want to give up 49 points, but we needed to get a couple stops on them.

"I thought offensively and special teams, we played very, very well."

Coach Floyd was proud of the way his team never gave up when they got down by 21 points and battled back to almost win it.

"That's the character of these kids. There's many teams that would have folded, down 21 points with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but they kept going and going and we were one sack or an inch spot from getting the ball back again and having a chance to score.

"The credit goes to the kids. It was an amazing year. It was a pleasure to coach the kids. We all had a great time -- coaches and players alike -- and I really appreciate the parents' support that we had this year, and the community support. We've never traveled that well ever since I've been here, but to have more than 100 people or so go up to Sandpoint and fill those bleachers, and then against Hillcrest, our side was packed, it was awesome to see -- it was great."

Kyle Kerfoot led the Tigers running game with 130 yards and a score on 13 carries. Tallon Pauley had 104 yards on 21 rushes. Jesse Donez had 26 yards on five rushes, Tommy Miller carried once for five yards and Ricky Lee had one carry for minus three yards.

Kyle Kerfoot completed seven of 20 passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns. Tallon Pauley was 1-1 for 19 yards and a score. Tommy Miller caught three passes for 35 yards and a score, Ricky Lee caught two passes for 27 yards and two scores, Jesse Donez had two catches for 34 yards, and Tallon Pauley had one catch for 23 yards.

Jordan Spiers led Hillcrest with 266 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.

Devin Droghei rushed 23 times for 200 yards and four scores. The Knights attempted just one pass, and it was incomplete.

The Tigers received a third-place trophy after the game, and finished 9-2 on the season.

Coach Floyd thought the key to the success of this season had a lot to do with the 27 seniors on the squad.

"This group of seniors was amazing. Some of them aren't the biggest, some of them aren't the fastest, but the heart that they have and what they play with is what football is all about, especially high school football.

With a JV program that went 6-3, and a freshmen squad that went 6-2, Coach Floyd agreed, the future is bright for Tiger football.

"I think we've got things going in the right direction, and I think the kids are going to accept those challenges and they're going to want to try and match what the teams in front of them did.

"We can do all that stuff, it just takes a lot of hard work in the off-season, like these seniors did for us for four years. That's one of the hardest things for the underclassmen to remember is that everybody gets better, it's whether you want to get better or not in the off-seasons and playing other sports and being active, and I think these groups of kids will accept that challenge and try to follow in these seniors' footsteps, because they did a heck of a job."

Coach Floyd also wanted to thank the community for their overwhelming support all season long, and to thank Mayor Tom Rist and the Mountain Home Volunteer Fire Department for coming out to wish the coaches and team luck before they left, and the escort out of town by the Fire Department.

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    What a GREAT season you all had. Hold your heads high boys! You were an incredible team to watch and I know that I am only one of the many people who are so proud of each and every one of you! Congratulations also go to the terrific coaching staff.

    -- Posted by highschoolmom on Wed, Nov 19, 2008, at 10:44 AM
  • Nice job boys you made us really proud.

    -- Posted by Momof 2graduates on Wed, Nov 19, 2008, at 2:44 PM
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