“That’s the scariest team in our league right now, with Talkington they have a great QB. They don’t have the star, but they have a lot of good receivers. They don’t have the 6-4 guy but they have guys who can get up the field and move the chains.”
— 4A GSHL coach on the Tigers wide receivers
BATTLE GROUND — The system is locked in at Battle Ground.
The all-league quarterback as a sophomore, by all reports, has improved his game and football IQ, as he prepares for his junior season.
The 2015 Air Show is ready for takeoff.
Only, just who is going to catch all those passes? A year ago, the Tigers averaged 290 yards a game through the air. More than half of those yards, though, went to two seniors.
The 2015 Battle Ground receivers are not necessarily unproven, but they understand they will have to take advantage of the extra opportunities headed their way if the Tigers want to fly into the top ranks of the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League.
If offseason camps, workouts, and the first week of practice are any indication, the Tigers will be just fine with seniors Riley Betcher and Chase Gunter and junior Max Randle taking the early lead in getting the starting roles.
“It’s pretty exciting, but it’s super hard,” Randle said. “It’s a super complicated offense.”
“They ask a lot out of you,” Betcher added.
Still, what wide receiver could complain about this system?
“I think it’s a blessing,” Gunter said. “Most teams don’t throw like us.”
A year ago, Gunner Talkington completed 66 percent of his passes — throwing an average of 31 times a game — with 28 touchdowns. The receivers and quarterback must be on the same page, everybody reading the defense.
Does Betcher make his move here? Does Randle go deep or cut off his route? Is Gunter going to sit in a safe zone or go over the middle?
“We’re always running a hurry-up offense, too. You don’t have time to think,” Gunter said. “You gotta know what to do.”
A mistake by a receiver could mean an interception that looks the fault of the quarterback.
“We’re pretty good, though. We don’t screw up that much,” Betcher said with a smile.
That is what practice is for, and the Tigers have been making a name for themselves this summer, impressing opponents at 7-on-7 drills and the like.
It is not just Betcher, Gunter and Randle. There are several potential standouts for the Tigers, stacked at the position.
“We built our team around that a couple years ago when we decided to go to a spread and throw the ball 60, 70, 80 percent of the time,” Battle Ground coach Larry Peck said. “We’ve got the kind of kids who can run and catch.”
Games in the opening weeks of the season will give the coaches a better idea of who will emerge as the leaders.
“We don’t know who’s going to go and make it happen. There’s a group of seven, eight guys who could.”
Randle is hoping for a healthy season. He broke his right hand last season and missed a lot of action on offense. Still, any time he gets the ball, it is different than how he started football.
“I was a lineman,” said the 6-footer. “But as I grew up, I got faster.”
Betcher, at 5-10, said he has always had the body to be a wide receiver. He also is the team’s kicker.
Gunter was a running back as a freshman and sophomore.
“Last year, they wanted me to try it out,” he said. “I fell in love with the position. When we throw the ball 45 times a game, it’s pretty fun.”
