The Battle Ground Tigers did their part to clinch a postseason berth with a 38-14 win over Union High School on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The postgame celebration felt like the Tigers were a lock for finishing in second place in the 4A Greater St. Helens League. But after the win, the deciding factor in the team’s placement came down to a game between Camas and Skyview on Friday, Oct. 31.
On paper, the Camas Papermakers were the clear favorites over the Skyview Storm. In the first week of 4A GSHL league play, the Papermakers beat the Tigers 22-7. The next week, the Tigers beat the Storm for the first time since 2004 in a 35-21 victory. The hierarchy of the league puts Camas ahead by a good margin, it appeared.
Battle Ground’s lock in the postseason almost turned into a 4A GSHL three-way tiebreaker game for the two postseason spots, however. The Camas Papermakers ultimately outdid the Storm when time expired with a game-ending field goal to win 16-13.
It wasn’t until the clock hit zero in Camas on Halloween night that the Tigers’ second postseason berth in three years was a sure thing. But ahead of the Halloween night scare for both the Papermakers and Tigers, Battle Ground players and coaches were certainly relieved and celebrating after doing their part.
“Pretty special,” Tigers head coach Mike Woodward said. “We didn’t play our best football, but give credit to them — they came out and played hard and gave us a game. That was a good football game. But we’ve been tested all year, you know, in different scenarios, and our kids have rallied and bowed back, and we needed this one to take a little pressure off and now we can relax.”
The Tigers’ season has been a tale of extreme highs and lows. A streak of three dominating wins turned into a streak of four close losses, leading to back-to-back must-have wins to add a 10th game to the schedule.
“Over the years, we’ve always stressed that you want to peak in the playoffs,” Woodward said. “Those are the teams that can kind of get deep and do their thing. But a lot of times, at this time of the year, teams are wearing out, you know.”
The Tigers are not wearing out after the marathon of nine weeks. And, as Woodward said, injuries have not become a major issue for the team, though some players are hurt.
“That’s a testament to their toughness,” he said. “These kids are tough as nails.”
The Tigers have an attack mentality, as said by senior offensive lineman Lucas Goncalves.
“I’m looking for someone to dig in the ground,” he said. “That’s all I’m looking for, man. Driving people downfield, helping out my teammates. Communication is huge out there. Just play our game and kick ass.”
Now the 5-4 Tigers will take that mentality north to play 6-2 Bothell High School at Pop Keeney Stadium on Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in the week 10 postseason round.
