Reporter Paul Valencia has covered more than 200 consecutive regular-season, Friday night football games featuring Clark County teams, and while the scores still matter to him, he says it is the players, coaches, and fans who make for better stories

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

By November, we will know the playoff teams in high school football.

In December, we will know the state champions.

Until then, we champion all of the teams.

No, that does not mean I will see every team in Clark County this season. I doubt I will profile each and every program. But I will salute them.

Now. In the coming weeks. And certainly already this season.

Because a football season — or, really, any sports season at the high school level — is worthy of celebrating.

I host a sports podcast throughout the academic year with Cale Piland and Tony Liberatore, two former coaches and current school administrators. They grew up in Clark County. They know the history of county athletics. And while we do try to mention as many teams as we can, we can also fall into the trap of highlighting the best teams.

For example, before this season started, we wondered if any of our football teams would make it to December, to play in the state championship at Husky Stadium. A year ago, Camas played in the 4A state championship game, and Seton Catholic played for the 1A title.

This past week, after watching a few weeks of play, we asked the same question. Our answers changed a bit.

It occurred to me, though, that while it might make for a great topic on a podcast, any team that actually does play for a state championship will get plenty of attention throughout November and into December. Those would be the last teams standing, after all. They would have earned all the praise that comes with such an accomplishment.

September, though, should give us the opportunity to highlight so many more teams. 

Which is why I have come to enjoy our approach here at Clark County Today. You won’t see “game stories” after a Friday night football game, at least not traditional game reports. Sure, the score will be included in any game I attend. But I’m hoping to find a different story. 

More traditional game reports will come, perhaps in late October, with league championships on the line. Or in November in the playoffs.

But now? I would rather just find a story. 

In Week 1, I highlighted a Washougal victory but also made note of the incredible student section for the Mountain View Thunder. Mountain View might not be having a great season — win-loss wise — but its fans stood proud that night. 

The next day, I witnessed Heritage win its opener. Of course I recorded the score in the report, but the story profiled the leadership of the team, noting how the seniors put in the work to turn around a program that was just about left for dead only a few years ago. 

In Week 2, our report was not on how the Camas football team fared on Friday night, but how the players — and cheerleaders — lift up their community by visiting elementary schools on Friday mornings.

Then in Week 3, Battle Ground topped its district rival to tie the all-time series with Prairie at 26 wins apiece. We highlighted two seniors who have known for years that this was going to be a special campaign for the Tigers. If you live in Battle Ground, they said, you have to be tough.

This week, I watched the Columbia River-Woodland game. Woodland, the two-time defending league champion, rallied in the second half for a 17-14 win. Columbia River, on the rise this season, proved it belonged. (I will have a profile on a Woodland senior next week on Clark County Today.)

I have been to a Friday night football game featuring a Clark County team every week of the regular season since Week 1 of 2001. This week marks 211 consecutive regular-season Friday nights. (Add seven more, if you want to include those bizarre games for the abbreviated season during the pandemic.)  

I have appreciated every single game. But as I get older, I think I appreciate the little things — or maybe those are the bigger things — a whole lot more than the scores. 

This relatively new approach also coincides with my transition from full-time sports reporter to a news reporter who keeps his finger on the pulse of the local sports scene. I might not be covering sports every night, but I hope to continue being a fixture at football stadiums on Friday nights.

As we conclude Week 4 of the 2025 season, we can give a shout out to Heritage, now 4-0 for the first time in program history. Columbia River fell to 2-1 but is seeking its first winning full regular season since 2018. Battle Ground hopes to get to 4-0 with a victory on Saturday. 

Those are incredible starts for those teams. 

Will they make the playoffs? How far will they go if they make the playoffs? Don’t know yet. And also, I don’t care. Come playoff time, I’ll hope for all Clark County teams to have success against teams from the north, teams from the east. Right now? I’m just enjoying the regular-season ride.

We know that Camas will have something to say in October, when 4A Greater St. Helens League play begins. 

We can figure Evergreen will have something to say in the 3A GSHL. Prairie just beat Union for the first time in program history. 

The 2A GSHL is always a great battle. 

In the Trico, until otherwise proven, look for Seton Catholic or La Center to take command. We know Seton Catholic will bounce back from its Week 1 non-league loss. And La Center, while young, is always so talented.

This column is also dedicated to Fort Vancouver. If you listened to our most recent podcast, you know there are concerns with the future of the program. The present, though? If you are putting on the pads for the Trappers, knowing that most of the scores are lopsided, just remember, you are winners where it matters. You are showing up. You are competing. You are representing your school. Thank you Trappers.

Hockinson has also had a tough start to the season, but got a win in Week 4. 

We are four weeks into this campaign, with five weeks to play in the regular season. 

Every team has a story to tell. I’m thrilled to be part of a reporting team at Clark County Today that looks for more than the scores.

Oh don’t get me wrong. The scores will matter more and more as the season progresses. 

To me, though, the scores will never mean more than the people who play the game, the people who coach the game, the people who officiate the game, and the people who watch the game.

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