Mountain View holds off Battle Ground in offensive slugfest

The winning team rushed for more than 500 yards.

The losing team passed for more than 500 yards.

And it was a good thing the scoreboard is relatively new. It took a beating.

The ground attack prevailed over the aerial assault Friday night at McKenzie Stadium when Mountain View took down Battle Ground 56-42 in a Class 4A Greater St. Helens League football game that produced 1,242 yards of offense.

Garrett Jones rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns for Mountain View (1-3 overall, 1-1 4A GSHL) and Preston Jones added 175 yards and two rushing touchdowns, as well as a receiving touchdown.

“I’ve never dominated a game like that,” Mountain View sophomore left tackle Ethan Tonder said. “It was just a really fun time with the running backs.”

Garrett and Preston Jones knew who to give the credit to after the contest.

“We did this as a team,” Garrett Jones said. “That was 500 yards as a team. Not just us.”

“They did their job and competed,” Preston Jones added. “All we could do was follow our blocks, and that’s what we did.”

In all, the Thunder finished with 515 yards rushing, 623 yards of offense.

When the Mountain View offense was on the sideline, Battle Ground (1-3, 0-2) quarterback Gunner Talkington was trying to keep his squad in the game with his arm. A sophomore, Talkington completed 34 of 47 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns.

Mountain View coach Adam Mathieson just started laughing when he heard the numbers.

“That’s my only quote. I laughed,” Mathieson said. “I sat on the bench in disbelief, laughing. What did we just witness?”

A whole lot of offense, of course, but at least a few plays on defense. Mountain View’s Jake Ryan, Troy Pacheco, and Garrett Jones all had interceptions. Ryan’s came in the first quarter, and it flipped the momentum of the game when it appeared no defense was going to show for the game.

The two teams combined for five first-quarter touchdowns. Garrett Jones had two and Preston Jones had the other for Mountain View. Taylor Lollar and Bailey Buckner had rushing TDs for the Tigers.

Buckner would end up with 105 yards and two touchdown runs, helping Battle Ground amass 619 yards.

It was 28-21 at the half, but Mountain View scored the first two touchdowns of the second half to take command — Preston Jones, then Garrett Jones.

Talkington and the Tigers rallied again. Chris Waters, who had 11 catches for 167 yards, got behind the Mountain View defense and hauled in a 79-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-28 at the end of the third.

Mountain View showed it could put the ball in the air, too. Lex Reese found Preston Jones wide open on a 41-yard touchdown pass.

Back came Battle Ground. Chase Gunter caught a 32-yard TD from Talkington, making it 49-35 with less than five minutes to play.

The onside kick did not work out for the Tigers, but they got the ball back in a hurry anyway. Unfortunately for them, only after Anthony Ramirez scored on a 45-yard touchdown run for the Thunder. It was the first touch of the game for Ramirez.

The Tigers scored last, and it made for a milestone. Talkington’s 12-yard TD pass to Cory Gunson gave Talkington the 500-yard game.

The Tigers would have preferred the victory.

The Thunder would have preferred a little more defense.

Instead, they treated their fans to one wild night of offense.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 56, BATTLE GROUND 42

B. Ground 14 7 7 14—42

Mtn. View 21 7 14 14—56

First quarter

BG — Taylor Lollar 1 run (Riley Betcher kick)

MV — Garrett Jones 13 run (Will Warne kick)

MV — Preston Jones 58 run (Warne kick)

BG — Bailey Buckner (Betcher kick)

MV — G. Jones 40 run (Warne kick)

Second quarter

BG — Buckner 3 run (Betcher kick)

MV — G. Jones 9 run (Warne kick)

Third quarter

MV — P. Jones 15 run (Warne kick)

MV — G. Jones 22 run (Warner kick)

BG — Chris Waters 79 pass from Gunner Talkington (Betcher kick)

Fourth quarter

MV — P. Jones 41 pass from Lex Reese (Warne kick)

BG — Chase Gunter 32 pass from Talkington (Betcher kick)

MV — Anthony Ramirez 45 run (Warne kick)

BG — Cory Gunson 12 pass from Talkington (Betcher kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Battle Ground: Lollar 5-22, Buckner 14-105, Talkington 8-(minus 9). Mountain View: Garrett Jones 22-191, Preston Jones 20-175, Jesus Familia 11-86, Reese 4-11, Ramirez 2-52.

PASSING — Battle Ground: Talkington 34-47-3-501. Mountain View: Reese 5-8-0-108

RECEIVING — Battle Ground: Waters 11-167, Parker Randle 8-131, Kyle Cahoon 9-73, Riley Betcher 1-56, Chase Gunter 2-42, Buckner 1-5, Gunson 2-27. Mountain View: Familia 1-7, P. Jones 2-68, Colin Biggs 1-8, Jeff Adams 1-25.