Battle Ground dominates in 49-0 win over Spanaway Lake

BATTLE GROUND — We know that the Battle Ground Tigers can air the ball out with quarterback Gunner Talkington at the helm.

But it was balance — a steady running game and defense — that helped Battle Ground (2-0) cruise to a 49-0 victory Friday over the Spanaway Lake Sentinels from Tacoma (1-1).

The Sentinels, who scored 52 points in their win the previous week over Decatur, were shut out by an improved Battle Ground defense.

Spanaway’s receivers were bigger than nearly every Battle Ground defensive back. But what the Battle Ground defense lacked in size, they made up in speed and tenacity.

“The speed that we have this year with those kids is really showing,” said Battle Ground head coach Larry Peck. “They did a lot of work in the offseason, and we’ve got more speed across the board than we’ve ever had.”

Spanaway Lake’s passing game never got going and most of the credit — save for a few dropped passes — goes to Battle Ground’s defense. The scheme is not any different. It’s just better.

“We’re running the same defense. It’s just there’s a little more speed and aggressiveness,” Peck said.

Although the game ended in a rout, Battle Ground had some tough situations they needed to overcome. The most important was a goal-line stand when Spanaway Lake had first-and-goal on the 3-yard line in the first quarter.

The Tigers knocked Spanaway Lake back to the 12-yard line. They followed that by stopping the Sentinels on two fourth-and-goal chances, once when pass interference was called and then again by forcing an incompletion.

Talkington — and the Tigers’ rushing attack — marched the Tigers 94 yards for their third score to put them up 21-0.

Talkington finished with 235 yards passing, two touchdowns (one each rushing and passing) and only three incompletions. The Tigers had more than 200 yards rushing as a team. Bailey Buckner led Battle Ground with 85 yards on four carries.

“The receivers made a lot of plays, the lineman held up and the backs filled really well,” Talkington said. “I really liked the team effort tonight.”

“We can throw and run,” Peck said. “Last year, we couldn’t run as much as we can now. We can do some things that we couldn’t last year. We’re more dynamic. If we can run all night, we’ll run all night.”

Up next for the Tigers is a tilt against Skyview (2-0) in the teams’ first 4A GSHL matchup of the season.

BATTLE GROUND 49, SPANAWAY LAKE 0

SPANAWAY LAKE 0 0 0 0 0

BATTLE GROUND 21 21 7 0 49

First Quarter

BG — Curtis Stradley 3 run (Riley Bechter kick)

BG — Max Randle 58 pass from Gunner Talkington (Bechter kick)

BG — Bailey Buckner 6 run (Bechter kick)

Second Quarter

BG — Reed Thompson 10 run (Bechter kick)

BG — Stradley 1 run (Bechter kick)

BG — Talkington 11 run (Bechter kick)

Third Quarter

BG — Thompson 8 run (Bechter kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing— Battle Ground, Bailey Buckner 4-85, Curtis Stradley 4-40, Gunner Talkington 4-30, Reed Thompson 4-28, Manny Grote 2-25, Austin Adams 1-(-1), Logan Hertner 1-(-2). Spanaway Lake Ramon Gutierrez 9-39, Jacob Blakeney 4-1, Brian Felagai 1-9, Isaiah Goodrum 3-2, Marvin Williams 3-2, Terrance Thomas 1-(-2).

Passing— Battle Ground, Gunner Talkington 11-14-0-235, Austin Adams 2-2-0-5. Spanaway Lake Ramon Gutierrez 15-35-1-93.

Receiving— Battle Ground, Riley Bechter 3-81, Chase Gunter 4-79, Max Randle 1-58, Kyle Cahoon 2-19, Cole Grossman 1-8, Logan Hertner 1-5. Spanaway Lake, Leroy Lawrence 7-57, Kevin Utley 4-33, Braxton Blue 1-2, Brian Felagai 1-1, Jacob Blakeney 1-(-1).