MULLAN — Coming off a 26-22 win last week against Timberline High of Weippe, Kootenai coach Doug Napierala started on his game plan for Friday’s game against Mullan.

There was only one problem with that.

He didn’t quite know if that same game plan, used for an 8-man football game, was going to translate to the 6-man style that Mullan is playing this season.

Kootenai senior tailback Tanner Andersen ran for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries, and Dylan Wright ran for 150 yards and scored five touchdowns, leading the Warriors to a 74-30 win over the Tigers at John Drager Field.

“In the beginning of the week, it was kind of like a ‘what in the world are we doing?’ feeling,” Napierala said. “It wasn’t until mid-week we started looking at things and figuring some things out and getting to what our game plan is. The kids as the week went started to buy into it a little more and got a little more excited because it was something new. And it was a challenge.”

Mullan (0-2) has seven players on its roster this season. And while Kootenai (2-1) has 12, only 10 played as two missed the game due to injury.

“We kind of went through and put together a game plan offensively, and I thought we executed it really well,” Napierala said. “There was a few hiccups and defensively, I felt like we played a great game. We’ve just got to shore up the coverage in this game. It’s pretty wild.”

Napierala, in his 16th season as Kootenai coach, said his highest turnout for his team was 29 when the team finished runner-up in the 1A Division II playoffs in 2008.

“If we don’t see a change in our population, playing 6-man could become a reality for us,” Napierala said. “We could really become a 6-man program. My numbers have been dropping in recent years and we’ve kind of plateaued between the 12 and 10 mark in recent years. We lost one player in the first game and another in the second, and we’re at 10 players in a heartbeat. This could very well become a reality for us.”

For Mullan, it was the school’s first home game since the 2014 season after having to cancel its season in 2015 due to low numbers. Before then, Kootenai and Mullan played each other in North Star League football games for years.

“What our kids are getting is valuable experience,” said Mullan coach Stetson Spooner, whose Tigers lost their opener at St. Regis two weeks ago. “When you practice seven guys in a 6-man game, nothing can replicate a game. We can’t have adults out there padding up and helping us out, so we’ve got to do what we can do and learn from games more than practices.”

Mullan, which initially toyed with the idea of playing 6-man games in 2012, will also face Clark Fork, Lakeside, Lewis County and Timberline in 6-man games this season. For Kootenai, this was its only scheduled 6-man game.

“I think there were some teams in southern Idaho that were interested we’re doing this,” said Spooner, who has been at Mullan for six years, and is in his fifth year as football coach. “They had some interest (in 6-man) a few years ago, and I think this might have turned some heads around the state. ... This 6-man game, it’s nice to have a guy that can (sub) in on offense.”

Four of seven players playing for Mullan are freshmen and the other three are juniors.

“Just our football I.Q. grew from this game today,” Spooner said. “I’ve got five guys on this team that haven’t played organized football before this year and two that have. It moves slowly, but our pass blocking was better than it was against St. Regis. Our snapper (Matthew Peite), he grew leaps and bounds today. We’re still learning as a coaching staff, just like everyone else and we’re still new to this until the end of the season.”

Kootenai jumped out to a 44-0 lead with 6:31 remaining in the half before Mullan got on the scoreboard just before halftime.

Scoring plays for Kootenai included a pass from Wright — a running back — to quarterback Hunter Whipple, and a 1-yard shovel pass to center Coleman Donohoe.

The game was played on a 40x80-yard field instead of the regular 53x100 field that is used for 8-man games. Teams needed to get 15 yards in four plays to get a first down and all six players are eligible to be receivers.

On offense, three players are required on the line of scrimmage to start the play. The player to whom the ball is snapped cannot run past the line of scrimmage, but if the ball is tossed to another player, that player can run or throw the ball and the player to whom the ball was snapped is still an eligible receiver.

“The first quarter, it was really slow getting going,” said Andersen, a linebacker on defense. “You’ve just got to get used to the fact that your manned up against one guy, and if you leave him, they’ll do trick plays to get going. You’ve got to get used to that and if you make a mistake, it’s six points.”

Kootenai forced five turnovers — three in the first half — and converted all into touchdowns.

Whipple finished with 138 yards passing for Kootenai, which hosts Lakeside next Friday.

Gryphon Todd threw for 182 yards and four touchdowns, three going to Skye Gallaway, for Mullan, which plays at Clark Fork next Saturday.

Kootenai 30 14 16 14 — 74

Mullan 0 8 14 8 — 30

First quarter

Koot — Hunter Whipple 14 pass from Dylan Wright (Gage Maitland pass from Whipple), 5:19

Koot — Wright 25 pass from Whipple (Tanner Andersen run), 4:23

Koot — Coleman Donohoe 1 pass from Whipple (Wright pass from Whipple), 1:46

Koot — Maitland 61 pass from Whipple (pass failed), :00

Second quarter

Koot — Andersen 1 run (Maitland pass from Whipple), 9:33

Koot — Wright 8 run (pass failed), 6:31

Mull — Sheldon Trogden 35 pass from Gryphon Todd (Trogden pass from Todd), 23.9

Third quarter

Mull — Trogden 1 pass from Todd (Skye Gallaway pass from Todd), 8:30

Koot — Andersen 15 run (Donohoe pass from Whipple), 5:41

Koot — Wright 5 run (Wright pass from Whipple), 3:38

Mull — Gallaway 52 pass from Todd (pass failed), :48

Fourth quarter

Koot — Wright 30 run (Marcus Ausman pass from Whipple), 7:34

Koot — Andersen 65 run (run failed), 4:28

Mull — Trogden 47 pass from Todd (Trogden pass from Todd), 2:00.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Koot, Wright 11-150, Andersen 11-171, Whipple 1-(minus 5), Vawter 2-30. Mull, Gallaway 5-20, Trogden 5-12, Todd 2-13.

PASSING — Koot, Whipple, 6-11-0-138, Wright, 2-2-0-22, Maitland, 0-1-0-0. Mull, Todd, 5-19-3-182, Trogden, 1-1-0-10, Barnes, 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Koot, Wright, 2-35, Whipple 2-20, Donohoe 1-1, Maitland 2-91, Ausman 1-11. Mull, Todd 1-10, Gallaway 2-68, Trogden 3-114.