Though Skyview’s offense put up a whopping 49 points in a 49-10 win against Battle Ground, there was one thing driving head coach Steve Kizer and his staff nuts.
The Storm committed eight first-half holding penalties, including one that wiped away a would-be touchdown in the second quarter, as they took a 21-10 lead into halftime.
“And a lot of them were actually holding penalties, so I told them at halftime, if we can just stop holding them, we’re going to score a bunch of points,” Kizer said.
Kizer was spot on.
Skyview cleaned up the miscues during a 21-point third quarter, which included rushing touchdowns from Jake Kennedy, Trey Jacob and Eric Botnen, giving the Storm a commanding 42-10 lead going into the final quarter.
Tiebreaker familiarity
As the calendar turns to the final week of the regular season, it’s also time for tiebreaker talk in the 3A Greater St. Helens League.
After Evergreen’s 40-19 victory over Prairie on Friday at District Stadium, talk turns to which team will occupy the 3A GSHL’s second and final playoff berth into next week’s Week 10 state preliminary round.
Mountain View is the league champion and has claimed one playoff spot. The second seed is up for grabs.
Evergreen (5-3, 2-1) travels to Kelso (2-6, 1-2) on Friday. The Plainsmen can lock up their first playoff berth since 2019 with a win. A Kelso win complicates things, however.
Pending on the outcome of Friday’s Heritage-Prairie game means a three-team tiebreaker between Kelso, Evergreen and Prairie is on for one playoff spot Monday.
If tiebreakers feel familiar, it’s because they are in the 3A GSHL. Since 2016, the league has had three tiebreakers for one playoff spot. That included last season’s three-way tie for second place between Evergreen, Mountain View and Prairie. Mountain View won the tiebreaker to advance to the Week 10 state preliminary round.
Ugly moment
Despite being 0-2 in league, Union remains alive for one of the three playoff berths in the 4A Greater St. Helens League.
If the Titans beat Skyview on Friday, they will either claim the third playoff spot over Skyview, or be part of a three-team tiebreaker for the last two spots.
But Union faces uncertainty at quarterback after senior Mitch Ratigan was injured on a play early in the fourth quarter against Camas.
Trailing 45-27, Union had the ball on the Camas 13 when Jared Forner of Camas intercepted the ball at the 1-yard line and returned it to the 9.
Some 20 yards back upfield, Ratigan was hit with a block on the return that resulted in a personal foul called on Camas.
Ratigan, who missed five games after hurting his right knee in the season-opening loss to O’Dea, stayed down on the turf grasping his right leg.
Meanwhile, Union players started creeping toward the Camas sideline and yelling at the Papermakers. The two sides had to be separated, and Union was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Ratigan was eventually helped off the field. He was seen later limping along the Union sideline with an ice pack on his leg. Sophomore Blake McDonald, who filled in for Ratigan during his earlier absence, finished out the game at quarterback.
