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One more homecoming heartbreaker...
The Mountain Home Tigers suffered another gut-retching football loss, as the Columbia Wildcats spoiled the Tigers' Homecoming with a 38-35 win on a late field goal at Tiger Field in Mountain Home Friday Night.
Mountain Home's troubles started on its first possession.
After stopping Columbia on the first series of the game and forcing a three-and-out punt, the Tigers started back on their own five-yard line. On the second play of the drive, a fumble was recovered by Columbia on the Tiger one-yard line.
Roland Sena took it in for the score and with the point-after try, the Wildcats led just 160 seconds into the game.
That sparked the Tigers, and they came right back, going 59 yards in six plays, Tanner Sessions taking it the final three for the score.
Jiame Martinez booted the PAT to tie the game at 7 with 6:27 left in the first quarter.
The Mountain Home score sparked the Tiger defense and they forced another three-and-out by Columbia.
The Tigers started on their own 35 and Ryan Eckstrom, who rushed for 139 yards on the night, reeled off 57 of them down to the Columbia eight-yard line. Jesse Cobos then took it in from there and, with the PAT by Jiame Martinez, Mountain Home led 14-7 with 4:17 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats then got their running game going and moved the ball down the field, getting a first and goal at the Mountain Home seven.
On their third try from the one-yard line, Roland Sena finally made it in for the score. The Wildcats then were successful on a two-point conversion run to take the lead 15-14, just three seconds into the second quarter.
Neither team scored again until late in the first half when Robert Sena rambled 29 yards for a Columbia score. The extra point attempt was no good, but the Wildcats had a 21-14 lead at the half.
Mountain Home received the ball to start the third quarter and on the third play of its opening drive Jesse Cobos connected with Nigel Whitfield on a 70-yard scoring strike. Jiame Martinez booted the PAT to tie the game at 21-21 with 10:26 left in the period.
Columbia answered with a 10-play 63-yard scoring drive, Dakota Hall taking it 15 yards for the score. With the PAT, Columbia reclaimed the lead 28-2, with 6:54 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers got great field position at the Columbia 39-yard line, but the drive stalled at the 22. The Tigers lined up to try a 29-yard field goal, but a bad snap from center forced holder Danny Brescia to make something happen. He found Levi Abrahamson at the 12, and threw it to him for a first down.
Six plays later, Michael Knapp took it in from the one and Jiame Martinez tied it at 28-28 with 1:39 left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats scored in three plays their next possession, Roland Sena romping 53 yards for a score. With the PAT, Columbia led 35-28 with 47.4 seconds left in the third quarter.
Mountain Home's next drive took them from their own 45 down to the Wildcats' 10-yard line, where the drive stalled and they tried a 27-yard field goal that was off.
Columbia took over on their 20, with four minutes left in the game. On the first play, Jose Rodriguez stripped the ball from the Columbia runner, and Mountain Home had the ball at the Columbia 18-yard line with 3:42 left in the game.
Ryan Eckstrom then ran in for the touchdown from 18 yards out. The Jiame Martinez PAT tied the game at 35-35 with 3:39 left in the game.
Columbia then took over from their own 30. Two penalties against Mountain Home helped keep the drive alive, the second giving the Wildcats a first down at the Mountain Home 15. With 2.5 seconds left on the clock, the Wildcats tried a 20-yard field goal, which was good, giving Columbia the lead back, 38-35.
The clock then ran out on the runback, the Wildcats leaving with a 38-35 win over the Tigers.
Despite another heartbreaking loss, Tiger head football coach Aaron Rodney saw lots of improvement and lots of positives to take away from the game.
"We're getting there. The coaches did a great job tonight. I thought offensively, we woke it up a little bit. Defensively, they trapped us all night and we just had trouble with it -- defensive tackles running up field with it and not closing it down.
"These kids have nothing to hang their heads about. They played hard and I'm proud of them. Eventually, the ball's going to roll our way. Three games we've lost by 16 points -- an average margin of five points.
"The last drive right there, I think there were some bad calls, but we shot ourselves in the foot and it cost us, and again, that's kids being in a position they're not used to being in. They're used to being blown out, and now we're competing and we're in the position to win games, so those are the things that we've got to clean up, and we'll get better -- we'll get there. I'm proud of the way they played. One thing about our kids, they don't quit. They play awfully hard, so I'm extremely proud of them tonight."
Mountain Home had its best offensive number of the season, rushing for 213 yards, and passing for 155 for 368 total yards.
Ryan Eckstrom carried the ball 17 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. Jesse Cobos rushed 13 times for 25 yards and a score. Michael Knapp had 11 touches for 25 yards and a score. Nigel Whitfield had one carry for 16 yard. Jake Ryan rushed once for five yards and Tanner Sessions had one carry for three yards and a score.
Jesse Cobos completed six of 13 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Danny Brescia had one completion for 11 yards.
Nigel Whitfield caught one pass for 70 yards and a touchdown, Jiame Martinez had one catch for 26 yards, Levi Abrahamson had two catches for 26 yards, Danny Brescia caught one pass for 18 yards, Jordan Pendleton caught one pass for nine yards and Ryan Eckstrom had one reception for six yards.
The Tigers are on the road to Skyview Friday night to face the Hawks. Coach Rodney expects another tough game, but believes his team will come ready to play.
"I know they've got a pretty good running back. They lost a tough one to BK last week. Talent-wise, I think we match up pretty good. It'll be another tough game like it was tonight. I think Skyview, Columbia, BK and Middleton, they're all right up there being the same type of teams, and we're there, we're there in that mix, so it'll be another challenge for us, but we're going to get out there and play hard and see what happens."
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday night at Skyview High School in Nampa.