It did not seem like anyone could stop Skyview’s Blake Ingram.
It did not seem like anyone could stop Battle Ground’s Gunner Talkington.
Something had to give Friday night at Kiggins Bowl in a Class 4A Greater St. Helens League football game.
In the end, the Skyview defense did put an end to Battle Ground’s aerial assault, to Battle Ground’s offense, allowing Skyview to continue its recent dominance over the Tigers.
Ingram rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns, the Skyview defense shut out the Tigers in the second half, and the Storm opened league play with a 30-14 victory.
Jimmy Rowe and Jayden Chatman had second-half sacks as the Skyview (3-0, 1-0 GSHL) defensive line pressured Talkington for two quarters, frustrating the Battle Ground (2-1, 0-1) offense.
That gave the Skyview offense plenty of opportunities. That meant Ingram received plenty of opportunities.
Ingram had 38 carries.
“I’m a little bit sore,” he said. “But not too shabby.”
Winning makes everything feel better.
“In the second half we stepped it up and worked our butts off,” said Ingram, who also plays linebacker. “We brought it in as a family.”
Ingram scored on touchdown runs of 7 and 6 yards in the first half, tying the game each time, then scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter, giving the Storm the lead for good.
“My linemen are great,” Ingram said. “I love my linemen. They’re my brothers. I couldn’t wish for a better line.”
While the offensive line gave Ingram enough room for his big game, the Skyview defensive line harassed Talkington from the start of the second half. It was by design.
“We figured it out after we made the adjustments,” Chatman said, referring to the halftime talk that the coaches gave the team. “We knew we could beat this team. This shows how much confidence we have in our coaches and how good our coaches are.”
Talkington was 14 of 15 for 169 yards in the first half. Two penalties cost the Tigers from taking a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. But other than that, the Tigers were moving the ball on the Skyview defense.
Talkington, though, finished with 215 yards after being held to 8-of-16 passing in the second half.
Skyview coach Steve Kizer also credited the defensive linemen — Chatman, Rowe, Jevon Kelly, and Noah Hellyer.
“They’re tall, lean, fast kids and they kept putting pressure on Gunner,” Kizer said.
Skyview’s Braden Hadfield was true on a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for a 10-point lead. Then the Skyview defense forced a three-and-out punt, and the Storm got on the board again just a couple minutes later.
Skyview quarterback Brody Barnum finished with 225 yards passing. He capped the night with a 47-yard touchdown bomb to Jeremiah Wright to make it 30-14 with 8:26 to play. Wright finished with five catches for 99 yards.
The Tigers scored on their first possession of the game, a 7-yard pass from Talkington to Max Randle. Ingram would tie it for Skyview later in the first quarter.
Then it was Talkington to Kyle Cahoon for an 18-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
The Tigers would later have a touchdown wiped out by penalty, and then after a sack, they ended up punting.
The Storm put together an 82-yard drive just before halftime, with Ingram scoring to tie the game at 14.
From there, it was all Skyview. Again. The Storm have not lost to Battle Ground since 2004.
Kizer, though, was impressed.
“I’ve said all along that Battle Ground keeps improving,” the Skyview coach said. “They showed it tonight. They’ll win some big games.”
Just not this night.
SKYVIEW 30, BATTLE GROUND 14
B. Ground 7 7 0 0—14
Skyview 7 7 7 9—30
First quarter
BG — Max Randle 7 pass from Gunner Talkington (Riley Betcher kick)
Sky — Blake Ingram 7 run (Braden Hadfield kick)
Second quarter
BG — Kyle Cahoon 18 pass from Talkington (Betcher kick)
Sky — Ingram 6 run (Hadfield kick)
Third quarter
Sky — Ingram 5 run (Hadfield kick)
Fourth quarter
Sky — Hadfield 27 FG
Sky — Jeremiah Wright 47 pass from Brody Barnum (kick blocked)
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Battle Ground, Curtis Stradley 5-19, Talkington 12-14, Reed Thompson 4-30. Skyview, Ingram 38-153, Brody Barnum 4-4, Hayden Froeber 2-17, Josh Seynaeve 2-5, Team 1-(minus 2).
PASSING — Battle Ground, Talkington 22-31-0-215. Skyview, Barnum 12-23-0-225.
RECEIVING — Battle Ground, Stradley 4-33, Chase Gunter 5-50, Cahoon 6-78, Randle 2-26, Logan Hertner 3-4, Betcher 2-24. Skyview, Hadfield 3-67, Travis Yajko 3-57, Jeremiah Wright 5-99, Skyler Martin 1-2.
