Battle Ground survives Union, 33-29 (video)

BATTLE GROUND — Battle Ground football coach Larry Peck told his Tigers they learned two big lessons on Friday night.

First, the Tigers learned they are good enough to get up big on a good team like Union.

Secondly, they learned you can’t let a good team back in the game.

Fortunately for the Tigers, it was not a lesson learned the hard way.

Battle Ground squandered a 27-point first-half lead to Union only to rally to beat the Titans on Bailey Buckner’s 9-yard touchdown reception for a 33-29 victory in 4A Greater St. Helens League play.

In the first half, everything was going the Tigers way as they built a 27-0 lead with 5:15 left in the second quarter.

Curtis Stradley had a 4-yard touchdown run, Max Randle caught a 32-yard TD pass and Gunner Talkington had two TD runs.

Union scored on Elijah Jones’ 1-yard TD run before halftime, giving the Titans hope.

But Union really came alive in the second half.

“That’s a really good football,” Battle Ground coach Larry Peck said of Union. “They’ve played the 3A state finalist (Eastside Catholic) and the 2A state finalist (Tumwater). They weren’t going to quit.”

After getting good field possession on the second half kickoff, Union scored quickly as Lincoln Victor hit Keith Shepard for a 39-yard touchdown pass, cutting Battle Ground’s lead to 27-14.

Union’s offensive momentum slowed for the rest of the third quarter, but the Titans’ defense kept Union in the game.

Bringing pressure, the Titans sacked Talkington five times in the second half.

That gave time for the Titans to find their offense again, which they did on Shepard’s second TD reception of the game, a 20-yarder that got the Titans within 27-21 with 7:57 left in the game.

The Titans spang an onside kick on Battle Ground and recovered it. Two plays later, Braedon Ensley took a swing pass and broke free for a 45-yard touchdown, putting Union up 29-27 with 7:20 left.

“Speed kills,” Peck said. “That kid (Ensley) is fast, and when he gets open in space, he’s dangerous.”

Union tried to surprise the Tigers with another onside, but this time Battle Ground was ready.

Taking over at the Union 49, Battle Ground quickly got in the red zone on a 33-yard run by Buckner. After two short runs by Buckner, the Tigers regained the lead on a 9-yard pass from Talkington to Buckner with 5:56 left.

From there, the defense got a key stop, then the Tigers ran out the clock behind eight more runs by Buckner, who finished with 93 yards — all in the second half.

“I’m really proud of Bailey,” Peck said. “He played a heck of game running between the tackles.”

BATTLE GROUND 33 UNION 29

Union 0 7 7 15—29

Battle Ground 7 20 0 6—33

First quarter

BG – Curtis Stradley 4 run (Riley Phillips kick)

Second quarter

BG – Max Randle 32 pass from Gunner Talkington (Phillips kick)

BG – Talkington 3 run (run failed)

BG – Talkington 1 run (Phillips kick)

U – Elijah Jones 1 run (Connor Culp kick)

Third quarter

U – Keithen Shepard 39 pass from Lincoln Victor (Culp kick)

Fourth quarter

U – Shepard 20 pass from Victor (Culp kick)

U – Braedon Ensley 45 pass from Victor (Shepard run)

BG – Bailey Buckner 9 pass from Talkington (run failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Union: Jones 5-20, Ensley 4-13, Victor 14-8, Abe Smith 1-0. Battle Ground: Buckner 14-93, Stradley 14-65, Talkington 13-1.

PASSING – Union: Victor 14-28-0-303; Talkington 24-34-0-308, Randle 1-1-0-19.

RECEIVING – Union: Ensley 7-106, Shepard 3-97, Kai Gamble 2-40, Nehru Faalevao 1-37, Tiernan Stanley 1-23. Battle Ground: Randle 7-129, Tommy Renfroe 6-117, Buckner 6-49, Kalau Higgins 1-16, Izak Brundage 3-10, Stradley 2-6.