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Bulldogs rally to thwart Tigers' homecoming dreams
For most of the football game Friday night, it looked like the Mountain Home Tigers were going to snap their three-game losing skid and celebrate Homecoming with a win over Nampa.
But then the unthinkable happened -- the Nampa Bulldogs made their way down the field in the final minute, scoring on an incredible catch by Josh Seward that carried the Nampa Bulldogs to a 27-23 win.
Both teams scored on their first possession. Nampa went down the field 58 yards in 10 plays, Mahonri Bostrom taking it the final eight yards for the score. With the PAT, the Bulldogs led 7-0 with 7:18 left in the first quarter.
A 35-yard kickoff return by Brock Morris set the Tigers up at their own 47 to start their first offensive series. Eight plays later Tommy Miller took it in from 10 yards out. The PAT was no good and it was 7-6, Nampa, with 4:23 left in the first quarter.
Nampa moved the ball well on its next possession, going from the Bulldog 13 down to the Tiger six before the Tigers held and took over on downs.
Mountain Home then orchestrated a 94-yard, five-play drive -- the big play a 72-yard pass play from Jake Hennessey to J.T. Cristobal -- with Tommy Miller scoring from 12 yards out to give the Tigers the lead. Fernando Salas booted the PAT to make it 13-7, Tigers, with 7:47 left in the first half.
Nampa had another good drive, moving the ball from their own 26 down to the Tiger 26 before the Tigers again stopped them on downs.
Mountain Home then went 74 yards in 12 plays, Jake Hennessey tossing to Colton Zamora for the score from two yards out. Fernando Salas again booted the PAT, and the Tiger lead was 20-7, a lead they took into the locker room at halftime.
Mountain Home received the ball to start the second half and turned it over on the second play of the opening drive on a pass interception.
With a short field, the Bulldogs went 25 yards for the score, but it took them 10 plays. Hayden Wright finished the drive by passing to Daylan Lake two yards for the score. The snap on the PAT attempt was bad. The holder tried to run it in, but failed, and the Tigers led 20-13 with 6:05 left in the third quarter.
Mountain Home looked like it was going to extend its lead on their next possession, as Jake Hennessey threw to Tommy Miller for an apparent 52-yard touchdown, but the play was called back by a holding penalty and the Tigers ended up having to punt the ball back to Nampa.
The Bulldogs picked up one first down on their next possession, but turned the ball over on downs to the Tigers at the Nampa 41-yard line.
Mountain Home only managed to get to the Bulldog 34-yard line before turning the ball back over to Nampa on downs.
A pass interference call against the Tigers helped Nampa move down the field and score, Mahonri Bostrom taking it in from four yards out. The PAT was good, tying the game at 20-20, with 5:38 left in the ball game.
The Tigers started their next drive at their 19, before a holding penalty moved them back to their eight-yard line. They kept the drive going, getting it down to the Nampa 12, before the drive stalled at the 15. Fernando Salas then kicked a 32-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 23-20 with 1:01 left in the game.
Nampa started on their own 35 with 58 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Hayden Wright completed a pass to Josh Seward for a first down at the 45, with 41 seconds left. The Bulldogs picked up another first down at the Mountain Home 45 on a pass to Kevin Engel, with 32 seconds and counting. Another pass to Engel moved it down to the Tiger 24.
Wright then spiked it to stop the clock with 20 seconds left. After an incomplete pass stopped the clock with 14 seconds, Wright threw to the end zone down the right sidelines and Josh Seward extended himself and somehow reached out, left his feet, caught it and fell to the ground in the end zone for the score. With the PAT, the Bulldogs had a 27-23 lead with eight seconds left.
On the kickoff, J.T. Cristobal made it out to the 33 before he was tackled, the clock running out on the play and the Bulldogs escaping with a 27-23 win.
"That hurts! That hurts a lot," said Tiger head football coach Brian Floyd of the loss.
"There's not really much else you can say about it. We've just got to rally around each other and go from here. You know, we're 1-6, and could easily be 6-1."
The Tigers rushed for 172 yards in the game, 130 of them by Tommy Miller, who had two touchdowns on 18 carries. Tom Hennessey had 32 tough yards on 12 carries, and Jake Hennessey had one rush for 10 yards.
Jake Hennessey completed 10 of 19 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. He also had one pass picked off.
Tommy Miller had three catches for 51 yards, Trevor Woodruff had three catches for 35 yards and J.T. Cristobal caught two passes for 82 yards,
Brock Morris had one catch for 11 yards and Colton Zamora caught one pass for two yards and a score.
The Tigers travel to Skyview this Friday night to face the Skyview Hawks, now out of the state playoff picture with four conference losses.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday evening at Skyview High School in Nampa.