Union takes care of business against Battle Ground

Union can finally look ahead to its rival Camas.

The temptation to look past any team is no longer there, not after the Titans beat Battle Ground 49-7 on Friday at McKenzie Stadium.

That sets up a showdown between No. 1 ranked Union (8-0, 3-0) and Camas (5-3, 3-0) next week with the 4A Greater St. Helens League title at stake.

But first, there was business to take care of Friday. The Titans slogged through a sloppy first half before putting the game away with a dominant second half.

Nile Jones rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Darien Chase caught three passes for 88 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Union’s defense held Battle Ground (2-6, 1-3) to 126 yards of offense, forced five turnovers and had four sacks.

And though it wasn’t always pretty, Friday’s win kept Union’s momentum going into its biggest game of the year.

“The thing we take most from every game is that we still need work,” Jones said. “Every team needs work and we still need to sew a couple things up. But we’re ready, man. We’re prepared. It’s going to be a good game next week.”

Sophomore Jake Bowen completed five of six passes for 124 yards in place of Lincoln Victor, who missed his second straight game with a bruised tailbone.

“If (Victor) needed to go he could have gone,” Union coach Rory Rosenbach said. “But we didn’t feel like he was 100 percent, so we figured we’d let him have another week to get healthy.”

The first half was a mistake-filled quagmire with each team committing four turnovers and several penalties.

The exceptions were two long scoring plays. Chase got behind Battle Ground’s defense for a 63-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, giving Union a 7-0 lead.

Daniel Thompson scored Battle Ground’s lone touchdown on a 97-yard kickoff return later in the quarter. The sophomore weaved his way through Union’s kickoff coverage, then broke a tackle at the 20 yard line.

But once the second half began, Union put the throttle down. Two plays after the Titans recovered a fumble, Alishawuan Taylor ran 31 yards for a touchdown to give Union a 28-7 lead less than a minute into the third quarter.

Union would add touchdown runs by Jones and Joseph Siofele to expand the lead to 42-7 before the third quarter ended.

“We played well enough where there are some things to be excited about,” Rosenbach said. “But we made enough mistakes to say ‘guys, we have a lot to work on still.’”

But now, that work will be done in anticipation of a rivalry game that will be one of the most-anticipated in Clark County this season.

“Every week we try to make it an opportunity to get better,” Rosenbach said. “It’s clearly easier to keep the focus when you’re looking at the ‘C’ in front of you. I anticipate us having a really good week of practice.”

UNION 49, BATTLE GROUND 7

B.Ground     0          7          0          0—7

Union             0          21       21       7—49

Second quarter

U – Darien Chase 63 pass from Jake Bowen (Alex Koga kick)

U – Nile Jones 4 run (Koga kick)

BG – Daniel Thompson 97 kickoff return (Grant Reinhardt kick)

Third quarter

U – Alishawuan Taylor 31 run (Koga kick)

U – Jones 10 run (Koga kick)

U – Joseph Siofele 8 run (Koga kick)

Fourth quarter

U – Marvin Barber 5 run (Koga kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Battle Ground: Daniel Thompson 16-43, Seth Workman 7-(minus-15), Trent Thompson 9-53, Colin Friese 3-10, Steven Hancock 5-8. Union: Nile Jones 8-85, Joseph Siofele 10-119, Thomas Dalgord 3-(minus-26), Isaiah Jones 1-4, Jake Bowen 1-(minus-1), Alishawuan Taylor 2-33, Marvin Barber 3-30, Joshua Joo 2-10, Lamont Lane 2-10, Pierce Henriksbo 3-36.

PASSING – Battle Ground: Seth Workman 3-14-3-20, Hal Hughey 1-2-0-7. Union: Jake Bowen 5-6-0-124, Thomas Dalgord 2-5-0-9.

RECEIVING – Battle Ground: Jordan King-Gonzales 2-18, Trevor Lahti 1-6, Grant Reinhardt 1-3. Union: Darien Chase 3-88, Joseph Siofele 2-12, Alex Vallejo 1-28, Dumitru Salagor 1-5.