Non-league football: Kent-Meridian 43, Battle Ground 28

BATTLE GROUND — Friday night, as it often is in week 1 of the high school football season, was full of mistakes for both Kent-Meridian and Battle Ground at District Stadium.

However, the Tigers shot themselves in the foot one too many times in the 43-28 non-league loss.

They began the game with a bad snap on the first drive which turned into three points for Kent-Meridian. Then, on a huge 4th-and-5 on the Kent-Meridian 19-yard line with 2:40 to play they had another bad snap that led to a 55-yard return by Emmanual Daigbe to seal the game.

“Football is about the team that makes the least amount of mistakes and we made way too many mistakes,” said Battle Ground coach Larry Peck. “It’s that simple. And they capitalized on them.

“A good football team takes advantage of those types of things and they did. They are a much better football team than we thought we saw on film.”

Starting a sophomore quarterback, Gunnar Talkington, the Tigers racked up the yards through the air. Talkington finished with 284 yards in his first varsity start. Peck also said that junior wide receiver Chase Gunter had stood out with his play in the second half, earning a spot on the field in coming weeks.

“That’s what we tell them. Do something to stand out,” Peck said.

Kent-Meridian coach Brett Allen couldn’t have been more pleased with his team’s performance.

“One of the things we’ve been working on is the adversity piece,” Allen said. “In the past we’ve kind of stepped back when adversity comes.”

Daigbe who made the game’s deciding play dominated the game on the outside, finishing with 10 catches, 184 yards and a 51-yard touchdown catch. The Tigers simply had no answer for him all night.

“We’ve been saying all along he’s going to have a breakout year. He was a sophomore last year, just a young pup. I knew he was going to have a breakout season but I didn’t know it was going to happen all in one game,” Allen said.

Kent-Meridian 43, Battle Ground 28

Kent-Meridian 9 14 13 7—43

Battle Ground 0 14 7 7—28

First quarter

KM — Tristan Ingold 21 FG

KM — Gabriel Gartland 1 run (kick blocked)

Second quarter

KM — Gartland 19 pass (Kick)

BG — Chris Waters 31 pass from Gunnar Talkington (Kick)

BG — Parker Randle 25 pass from Talkington (Kick)

KM — Marc Dennis 5 pass (Kick)

Third quarter

BG — P. Randle 25 pass from Talkington (kick)

KM — Emmanual Daigbe 51 pass (Kick)

KM — David N’Guessa 45 interception return (Missed PAT)

Fourth quarter

BG — P. Randle 42 pass from Talkington (Kick)

KM — Daige 55-yd fumble return for TD (Kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Battle Ground: Reed Thompson 6-27, Talkington 5-0, Taylor Stewart 1-1, Bailey Buckner 4-18.

PASSING — Battle Ground: Talkington 21-45-2-289

RECEIVING — Battle Ground: Parker Randle 5-120, Max Randle 5-60, Chris Waters 3-40, Riley Betcher 3-33, Buckner 2-3, Chase Gunter 3-33.