It just comes naturally to Chris Waters.
Even in the middle of the game, his mind is racing as he tries to figure out his quarterback’s passing numbers.
It does not matter that Waters is a wide receiver for the Battle Ground football team and is busy enough with his own job. He also wants to know how Gunner Talkington is doing at any given time during a game.
So Waters was about the only one not surprised with Talkington’s statistics last week.
“I was keeping track of him in my head,” Waters said.
That must have been a lot of information to process.
Talkington, a sophomore, completed 34 of 47 passes for a school-record 501 yards last week against Mountain View.
“It surprised me,” receiver Parker Randle said. “It surprised me it was 500 yards and a loss.”
Oh yes, Mountain View won the game 56-42. The two teams combined for 1,242 yards. The Thunder, in fact, rushed for more than 500 yards.
Two rare feats, indeed, but 500-yard passing games are more rare in high school football.
“I would have rather taken the win instead of the 500 yards, but it’s still an accomplishment,” Talkington said. “There were many reasons I put up those yards. My line did a great job blocking for me, and my receivers made plays. They were unbelievable.”
Waters finished with 11 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown. Randle had eight receptions for 131 yards.
While no one can predict a 500-yard game, this was no fluke. It is Battle Ground’s offensive philosophy these days. The school record that Talkington broke? It’s just a year old. Colston Vukanovich threw for 448 yards in a game last season.
“I really got to give the credit to the young Coach Peck,” said Battle Ground head coach Larry Peck, referring to his son, offensive coordinator Mike Peck. “He talked me into it. He researched this and wanted to go this route.”
Once the head coach was convinced, the Tigers went to the air.
“Might as well sell out and throw the ball 60 times if we have to,” Larry Peck said. “It’s taking advantage of the weakness of a defense.”
After all, not many high school defenses prepare for a team willing to throw so often.
Larry Peck added that if the old-school style is to set up the pass with the running game, the Tigers are flipping that, setting up the run with an air attack. Last week, sophomore running back Bailey Buckner rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
This is Year 2 of the pass-happy Tigers, and there are 14 new starters on both sides of the ball. Clearly, the offense is ahead of the defense — “We’re stoked about our offense, and we are working our butts off to catch up on defense,” Peck said — and the coaches think the offense will only get better.
“We have high expectations with our future development of this. Not that we can don’t great things this year,” Peck said.
Talkington completed his first eight passes last week — Waters could have told you that — for 124 yards. He had 248 yards by halftime. He completed eight in a row again in the second half. He threw for 154 yards in the fourth quarter.
All the while, he made the coaching staff look smart. Talkington was one of three quarterbacks vying for the starting job after Vukanovich graduated.
“Gunner just had the mental toughness you look for in a quarterback,” Larry Peck said. “Strong under pressure. Extremely coachable. Willing to put in the time to learn a system like this. He’s 15, playing on a 4A football team in what I think is the toughest league in the state and putting up huge numbers.”
As a freshman, Talkington knew there was going to be a chance to take over for the Tigers.
“I couldn’t wait to do that someday,” he said. “I really looked up to Colston a lot.”
Now, he is making the most of his opportunity.
“I know other quarterbacks are told just to hand the ball off,” Talkington said. “I’m just really privileged to be able to throw the ball 40 times a game.”
The offense demands that everyone is involved. The line, of course, needs to give time for Talkington to find an open receiver.
So far, it’s working. Through four games, four players have at least 10 receptions. Five Tigers have at least 100 yards receiving. Waters leads the 4A GSHL with 27 catches for 406 yards and six touchdowns.
“There is no point in the game when you’re thinking ‘We’re not going to get the ball again,’ ” Waters said.
“We know the game is on our backs,” Randle said. “It doesn’t stress us out.”
Talkington is the only quarterback in the region with more than 1,000 yards passing through four weeks. He has 1,310.
Talkington already has one special night in what he hopes will be a lot of special nights. He is, after all, a young quarterback in a QB’s dream of a system.
Larry Peck is really, really happy his son talked him into this.
“It’s everything I could hope for on offense,” Larry Peck said.
