Menu
Heartbreaker at home...
It was Homecoming. The Tigers were pumped up for the game -- they even did the Tiger Haka war chant. But when the dust settled Friday night at Tiger Field the Nampa Bulldogs had left town with a 41-8 conference football win.
Nampa wasted little time trying to be the spoilers, as Josh Bostrom took the opening kickoff and ran it back 90 yards for a touchdown. With the PAT, the Bulldogs led 7-0 just 16 seconds into the game.
That would be the scoring for the first quarter, as the defenses took charge. Nampa did have a first-quarter touchdown called back by a penalty and the Bulldogs' drive stalled at the Mountain Home 15-yard line.
Nampa scored again about midway through the second quarter. After a five-yard touchdown run by Devan Lesley was called back by a holding penalty, Josh Bostrom ran it in from 15 yards out. The PAT was no good, but the Bulldogs led 13-0 with 6:28 left in the first half.
Nampa then forced the Tigers into a three-and-out and Mountain Home punted the ball back to the Bulldogs. Josh Bostrom caught the punt on the Nampa 28 and ran it back, breaking numerous tackles along the way, for a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown. Devan Lesley ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-0, Bulldogs, with 4:53 left in the half. That was the score at halftime.
Mountain Home received the ball to start the third quarter. After going three-and-out, the punt was blocked and Nampa took over at the Mountain Home nine-yard line. Josh Bostrom ran it in from there on the first play. With the PAT, the Bulldogs led 28-0 with 10:03 left in the third quarter.
Mountain Home's next possession ended with an interception. Nampa started from its own 4, and went 55 yards in six plays, with Josh Bostrom scoring his fifth touchdown of the night, this one from 42 yards out. The PAT was no good, but the Bulldogs led 34-0 with 5:25 left in the third quarter, a lead they took into the fourth.
Nampa scored its final touchdown of the night early in the fourth quarter, capping off an 11-play, 72-yard drive. Devan Lesley took it the final 18 yards for the score. With the PAT, the Bulldogs led 41-0 with 10:13 left in the ball game.
Mountain Home finally got some offense going later in the quarter as Tyler Knauth capped off a 65-yard, four-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown run. Jake Hennessey passed to Knauth for the two-point conversion to make it 41-8 with 6:02 left in the ball game.
That would cap off the scoring on the night, as the Bulldogs picked up their first conference win in three tries.
"I liked how we were playing defensively -- to a certain extent. We still were diving at some ankles and not getting to our gap responsibility," said Tiger head coach Brian Floyd. "We were slowing them up enough. It was just the kickoff return -- and we've been working on that for two straight weeks, but we just keep going around the wedge and not getting into our wedge gaps. The punt return was the same kind of deal. It seemed like everybody was just diving and missing him. Being down 21-0, knowing we gave up two special teams touchdowns, that hurt a bit."
Mountain Home had very little success running the ball, picking up just 36 yards on 25 rushes. Tyler Knauth led the Tigers with 21 yards and a touchdown on two rushes. Jake Hennessey had 15 yards rushing on 14 carries, Juan Silva rushed four times for six yards, Ben Ceccarelli had three yards on three rushes, Robert Jackio, hampered by an ankle injury, had one yard on one rush, and Skyler Podesek had minus four yards on one carry.
"Injuries are killing us right now," said Coach Floyd. "It seems like we have just a revolving door on the O-line. Every week we have to find someone new to put in somewhere, so it's hard to get some continuity.
"I thought we really started doing that against Caldwell, and it did not work out as well as we wanted this week," the Tigers coach said. "We're just not stepping to the right areas and moving our feet fast enough, but we've got to keep working and we'll get better at it. These kids will get better."
Jake Hennessey completed 13 of 26 passes for 175 yards. He had one pass picked off.
Ben Ceccarelli caught four passes for 73 yards, Tyler Knauth had two catches for 25 yards, Juan Silva caught two passes for 22 yards, Dion Salinas caught two passes for 18 yards, J.T. Cristobal caught two for 17 and Mike Daniels caught one for 20 yards.
The Bulldogs rushed 42 times for 290 yards. They passed the ball for 63 yards.
Defensively, Colby Hall led the Tigers with six tackles. Alex Rodriguez and Ricky Castillo each had five, Jake Hennessey and Skyler Podesek both had four, J.T. Cristobal had three, Dion Salinas, Gage Curtis, Jeff Checketts and Joe Gutierrez each had two, and Mike Daniels, Juan Silva, Tanner Cook, Doug Long, Soloman Chung Hee and Tyler Oyler each had one tackle. Oyler's was a sack.
The loss drops the Tigers to 0-4 on the season. They host the once-beaten Bishop Kelly Knights this Friday night at Tiger Field. The kickoff is Friday night at Tiger Field at 7 p.m.