The Battle Ground Tigers defense stood strong in a 20-0 victory in a rivalry matchup against the Prairie Falcons on Friday, Sept. 11.
The Tigers rocketed off to a fast start with a 14-0 first quarter, but the Prairie defense flatlined the Tiger offense nearly the rest of the way until Battle Ground found themselves in a goal-to-go situation in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers opted to hand the ball off to the big man, Addison Roa-Cooper, for the insurance touchdown to lead by three scores halfway through the final quarter.
The shutout win was capped off with a game-sealing interception by senior defensive back Jackson Fick.
“Defense is absolutely phenomenal,” Battle Ground head coach Mike Woodward said. “They're going to get really tired of our offense real soon if we don't kick it in gear and knock these penalties off. I mean, it's hard to run the ball against this. You can see that. Our defense just gets after it. We tackle well. We're aggressive. We play really, really good football on defense.”
The defensive performance has given the Tigers a foundation to build on, but Woodward said the team’s biggest issue remains its ability to stay disciplined, particularly on offense.
“Now, offensively, same thing. We can run the ball. We can throw the ball. We do great things. We're blocking. Our kids are aggressive. They get after it,” Woodward said. “But we have as many yards going backwards as we do forward. I'm stating the obvious. We've got to clean this up.”
With the first round of league play starting this week, Woodward said there is little time remaining for the Tigers to work through those mistakes.
“We have no time for what you saw tonight. It's over,” Woodward said of correcting penalties. “We're done playing games. You can't go into this league by playing backwards football. It doesn't work that way.”
That urgency will carry into practice, where Woodward said the Tigers will emphasize discipline and physicality without allowing that aggression to turn into penalties.
“Our practices will be different. We don't practice lazy. We go ones against ones. We're in full gear. We're an old school football program here. We play it the right way,” he said. “But something is transpiring from the week of practice on game nights to where we're not finishing plays within the rules.”
Woodward said the penalties are particularly frustrating because they are coming from players trying to make aggressive plays rather than simple alignment mistakes.
“Again, these are aggressive penalties. The guys aren't lining up wrong and that kind of thing,” Woodward said. “They're aggressive penalties. I like our kids playing aggressive football, but not with yellow flags laying all over the floor. That doesn't win football games.”
As the Tigers turn toward league play, Woodward believes the pieces are in place for the team to continue moving the ball and competing at a high level.
“All three facets have to come together,” Woodward said. “You can't play two out of three or one out of three. You have to play all three.”
Despite the mistakes, Woodward said he remains confident in the offense and sees plenty to build upon, particularly with the team’s running game and quarterback.
“The offense is there. It's just a matter of finishing plays without grabbing a jersey and having those penalties,” he said. “That's it. That's the only thing. There's nothing else that I'm seeing out here that I'm discouraged by.”
The Tigers now enter league play in the 4A Greater St. Helens League with a road game against the Union Titans at McKenzie Stadium on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m.
The Prairie Falcons are slated to host Timberline High School on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m.
