Battle Ground coach Mike Woodward said Friday’s matchup with Mountain View was like a boxing match.
The Thunder got in some early shots. But the Tigers held their ground and then delivered the knockout punch in the second half.
The Tigers limited Mountain View to just three first downs in the second half, and quarterback Ethan Adams led Battle Ground to three scoring drives as the Tigers rallied for a 23-12 win at McKenzie Stadium.
“That was like a heavyweight fight with that No. 6,” Woodward said, referring to Thunder running back Jaden Brown. “That kid runs hard. We kept telling our kids ‘you’d better wrap up and hang on for dear life, and let your buddies come in and try to clean it up.’ And we did a much better job of that in the second half.”
Brown rushed for 137 yards on 26 carries. He had 110 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as Mountain View built a 12-6 lead.
Meanwhile, Battle Ground only managed 11 rushing yards in the first half and 100 yards passing, with all of those yards coming on two passes.
But things turned in the second half. Brown’s first two runs of the third quarter went for 14 and 12 yards.
After that, the Tigers held him to 1 net yard on six carries.
“He was the focal point of their offense, and we made sure their focal point didn’t explode,” junior linebacker Emet Ordway said.
And that gave the Tigers time to get their offense going.
Starting at midfield late in the third quarter, Adams hit Quinten Overholser on a 21-yard pass down to the Mountain View 1.
Three plays later, Adams ran for the touchdown from two yards out on fourth down on the first play of the fourth quarter, putting Battle Ground up 13-12.
On the Tigers’ next possession, Adams hit Thomas Avery for 33 yards and Boston Walker for 22 more, before Overholser’s 8-yard touchdown run made it 20-12.
“We couldn’t get anything running (in the first half),” Adams said. “Passes were getting dropped. The run game was off. In the second half, we came out of that locker room ready to fight.”
It wasn’t a dazzling statistical night for Adams, who was 9 for 21 for 201 yards. But when the Tigers needed a big play, the junior got it for them.
“That says a lot about the character of our offense,” Woodward said. “Those guys could’ve cashed in, but they just kept battling.”
Credit also goes to kicker Bryland Fick. The junior kept Battle Ground in the game in the first half, converting field goals of 44 and 43 yards.
Fick’s third field goal, from 35 yards, sealed the victory in the fourth quarter.
“I thought he was our MVP tonight,” Woodward said. “You want to talk about poise. That kid, it’s hard to get him to crack a smile, but hopefully he did tonight. I was more proud of his punting. He also did an outstanding job punting tonight.”
BATTLE GROUND 23, MOUNTAIN VIEW 12
Battle Ground 3 3 0 17—23
Mountain View 0 12 0 0—12
First quarter
BG—Bryland Fick FG 44
Second quarter
MV—Jaden Brown 10 run (pass failed)
MV—Brown 4 run (run failed)
BG—Fick FG 43
Fourth quarter
BG—Ethan Adams 2 run (Fick kick)
BG—Quinten Overholser 8 run (Fick kick)
BG—Fick FG 35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Battle Ground: Dominick Rivas 12-28, Ethan Adams 8-18, Quinten Overholser 10-13. Mountain View: Jaden Brown 26-137, Christiaan Meushaw 7-18, Bryson Vance 3-3, team 2-(-29).
PASSING — Battle Ground: Adams 9-21-0-201. Mountain View: Bryson Vance 3-19-1-13.
RECEIVING — Battle Ground: Boston Walker 2-74, Owen Mereen 1-48, Dominick Rivas 3-23, Bryce Simmons 1-2, Quinten Overholser 1-21, Thomas Avery 1-33. Mountain View: Ayden Cummings 1-8, Dylan Huber 1-7, Jaden Brown 1-(-2).
