The Battle Ground Tigers were knocking on the door at their closest chance at conquering the Camas Papermakers on the gridiron in recent years on Friday, Oct. 2.
The Tigers trailed 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, scoring on a goal-to-go situation just a couple of plays after forcing a turnover on downs after a bad snap led to Battle Ground senior Jackson Fick tackling the Camas punter.
Entering halftime, the Tigers won the second quarter with two touchdowns to one Camas score, trailing 28-19.
Nearly halfway into the third quarter, Battle Ground punched it in with Miles Skov for his third touchdown of the game. The Tigers were down by just a field goal in what could be argued as a David versus Goliath game at District Stadium.
Battle Ground kicked off down 28-25 with massive amounts of momentum and a roaring crowd in the stands above. In perhaps one of the most impactful, momentum-stuffing plays in Clark County high school football in recent memory, Camas’ Rylan Gatherer gathered the kick off and returned it for an 86-yard touchdown.
The crowd went silent in the stadium while the away crowd and Camas sideline went bananas after the kick return score. Camas found themselves up by two scores, 35-25.
The Papermakers added another third quarter score for the end result of 42-25.
With the round robin style season in the 4A Greater St. Helens League, the Battle Ground Tigers will head to Doc Harris Stadium in Camas to have another crack at the Papermakers to close out the season on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m.
Before then, Battle Ground will play a non-league game at McKenzie Stadium against Evergreen High School on Friday, Oct. 9, at 4:30 p.m. before hosting Union High School on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. for the Tigers’ final home game of the season.
