Week 5 football preview: Evergreen vs. Battle Ground

When, where: 7 p.m. Friday at District Stadium (4A Greater St. Helens League game)

Last meeting: Evergreen 38-14 Oct. 1, 2010 in Vancouver.

Last week: Battle Ground beat Hudson’s Bay 21-15; Evergreen lost to Eisenhower 55-31.

Battle Ground (3-1, 0-0): The Tigers are off to a solid 3-1 start. However, the three wins have come against teams with a cumulative win-loss record of 1-11. The good news for the Tigers is they are playing Evergreen, which is 0-4. … Ian Humphrey, the area’s fourth-leading passer, is coming off a sub-par game in which he threw almost as many interceptions (3) as completions (5). … Battle Ground actually trailed Hudson’s Bay 15-8 in the third quarter until Tyler Bergeron scored on a 76-yard TD run, and Humphrey completed a 21-yard TD pass to Trevor Ingram.

Evergreen (0-4): RB Justin Straup is starting to develop into an offensive weapon for the Plainsmen. He rushed for 134 yards on 17 carries and 1 TD last week. … Straup has rushed for 277 yards on the season. … The Plainsmen had several big plays last week: a 72 yard pass from Anthony Thomas to Artem Konkin, a fumble recovery in the end zone for a TD, a 77-yard run by Ramone Ortiz. … This is Evergreen’s first league game after a rough non-league schedule that inlcuded top-10 foes and a long trip to the Tri-Cities.

Bottom line: Evegreen is getting better, but Battle Ground is at home and playing well.

Columbian’s pick: Battle Ground.

Fans’ pick: Battle Ground.