The Tigers saw their Cinderella story be put on hold after losing 49-10 on the road to the 6-1 overall Skyview Storm.
The game was a little late to the start after the lights at Kiggins Bowl went out for 20 minutes or so. The spectators shined their phone flashlights down on the field while the players came to their sidelines before kickoff.
The game started off with a quick bang by Skyview but Battle Ground kept it tightly contested in the first half of the game. After the Storm struck first, the Tigers answered on defense with an interception that was followed up with a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Jacob Champine.
The Storm answered to retake the lead. Staying closely competitive the Tigers went down the field and scored on a 38-yard field goal to make it 14-10. That was the last the Tigers wrote on the scoreboard as the Storm made it 21-10 at halftime.
The second half was all Skyview with the Storm handing Battle Ground its first loss of the season.
“Skyview was a little upset with Camas, and they took it out on us,” Tigers head coach Mike Woodward said.
In the prior week, the Skyview Storm had their immaculate season disrupted with a 21-9 loss to the Camas Papermakers.
“[Skyview] is just an excellent football team, [and] we didn’t respond very well,” Woodward said. “Kind of dug ourselves in a hole early with backfield position, probably tried to do a little bit too much on defense. It’s my fault. But we still love our kids. We believe in them wholeheartedly.”
Despite facing the realization of the harsh loss, Woodward saw a positive in it.
“I mean, maybe this is a good thing you know, we need to be punched in the mouth, see how we respond,” Woodward said. “And this, we’re going to turn this into a positive.”
Woodward believed his team got “out-physicaled” for the first time this season with the matchup against Skyview.
“It’s still monumental for us,” Woodward said of the matchup against Camas. “You know, home crowd, the last home game, all that good stuff. These kids will respond. We trust them. They’ll rest and regroup. They’re going to respond just fine, and we felt all along we probably match up a little better against Camas than Skyview so hopefully that works in our favor.”
Following the loss for Battle Ground, the Tigers, Storm and Papermakers all sit 7-1 overall with Camas having the upper hand in the 4A Greater St. Helens League with a 2-0 record heading into Battle Ground for the final regular season game.
The Tigers close out their regular season with a home game along with senior night against the 7-1 Camas Papermakers at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27.
