Battle Ground grinds out big win over Evergreen

BATTLE GROUND &#8212 Battle Ground boasted the region’s top passing game coming into Friday’s 4A Greater St. Helens clash with Evergreen.

But it wasn’t Gunner Talkington who led the Tigers to a much-needed 21-14 Homecoming victory over the Plainsmen at District Stadium.

Instead, it was another pair of sophomores who saved the day on Senior Night.

Curtis Stradley grinded out 148 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries — including six in a row on a game-clinching drive — and Max Randle stepped in for Stradley and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 7:09 remaining.

Three days ago, Stradley was a receiver and safety who had two career carries. But when starting running back Reed Thompson went down with an ankle injury at practice Tuesday, Tigers coach Larry Peck auditioned the 6-foot, 180-pound Stradley in the backfield the next day.

“A hell of a night, eh?” Peck quipped. “We asked a lot of him tonight, but I liked what I saw from him. He took some hard hits, but he was fearless. That’s everything you want from a tailback in a two-back system.”

Evergreen coach Don Johnson said he wasn’t surprised that in the wet conditions and with his defense struggling against the run, Battle Ground (3-4, 2-3) would turn to its running game despite Talkington having passed for the most yards in the GSHL through six games.

Stradley, though, was the X-factor the Plainsmen didn’t count on.

“When you game plan for Battle Ground, they’re a passing team, but we’ve had a little bit of trouble stopping the run,” said senior linebacker Micah Bishop-Brown, who had a game-high 16 tackles.

“We definitely rattled them tonight, but at critical times, we let them slip through and pick up a first down.”

No situation was more critical than when Evergreen pinned the Tigers at their 1 with 5:05 to play. An offsides penalty on first down gave them some breathing room, but they still faced a third-and-1 from the 10 with 3½ minutes left and the Plainsmen out of timeouts.

Stradley took a handoff over the right side and fought through Jacob Riverman’s tackle to just get the nose of the football past the first-down stick.

“I loved being in that situation, when the game was on the line,” Stradley said. “This feels good, because we needed a home win.”

Two plays later, Stradley ripped off a 10-yard run for another first down, and Battle Ground was able to run out the clock from there.

“The game came down to the last drive, and unfortunately, we didn’t have the ball on that last drive. They did,” Johnson said.

Stradley opened the scoring late in the first quarter, sweeping around right end for a 13-yard touchdown on a fourth-down carry.

Evergreen made it 7-6 going into halftime when Justice Murphy’s downfield block sprang quarterback Jerrin Williams on a 56-yard touchdown run with 2:15 left in the second quarter.

The Plainsmen then took the lead at 14-7 late in the third quarter when Williams lofted a perfect ball down the left sideline, hitting Rey Green in stride at midfield and letting the speedster outrun Nic Manuel for an 86-yard score.

Besides those two big strikes, though, the Tigers kept Evergreen in check, limiting it to 83 yards and six first downs on its other 44 plays.

“They’ve got some kids who can really run, but our defense stepped up huge tonight,” Peck said. “We were able to shut them down most of the game.”

The Tigers tied the game at 14 early in the fourth quarter, scoring again on a fourth-down play as Talkington hit Parker Randle on a 45-yard pass.

Note: Evergreen coach Don Johnson Jr., was placed on probation for one calendar year for his public criticism of officials after a Week 5 game. Johnson could face further disciplinary action if he were to repeat such actions. It is against Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rules to publicly criticize game officials. The probation came from the 4A Greater St. Helens League and the WIAA’s District 4, according to an Evergreen Public Schools administrator.

BATTLE GROUND 21, EVERGREEN 14

Evergreen 0 6 8 0—14

Bat.Ground 7 0 0 14—21

First quarter

BG — Curtis Stradley 13 run (Riley Betcher kick)

Second quarter

E — Jerrin Williams 56 run (kick blocked)

Third quarter

E — Rey Green 86 pass from Williams (Williams run)

Fourth quarter

BG — Parker Randle 45 pass from Gunner Talkington (Betcher kick)

BG — Max Randle 2 run (Betcher kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Evergreen, Williams 8-65, Dallas Goodpastor 15-51, Green 4-(minus 3), Billy Nelson 3-16, Justice Murphy 1-2, Micah Bishop-Brown 1-6, team 1-(minus 4). Battle Ground, Stradley 35-148, Talkington 7-(minus 10), M.Randle 2-3, Chris Waters 2-2, team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING — Evergreen, Williams 3-13-1-92. Battle Ground, Talkington 13-21-1-181.

RECEIVING — Evergreen, Green 1-86, Murphy 1-9, Nelson 1-(minus 3). Battle Ground, P.Randle 7-120, Waters 2-30, Chase Gunter 2-25, Betcher 1-11, Stradley 1-(minus 5).