As rival games go, the game between the Ballard Beavers and the Roosevelt Roughriders was a tough defensive battle that came down to a single point.

The difference was a blocked kick that prevented Ballard from a tie score in the third quarter. They eventually lost to the Roughriders 7-6.

On the extra point, Kenichi Sato's kick was blocked by the Roughriders. His field goal attempt in the first half narrowly missed, as the ball hit the left upright and bounced off.

The Beavers had been relying on their running game the entire game until quarterback Clayton Brenden passed to Miles Schwaab for 42 yards. This set up their only touchdown of the night by Colin Matthiesen.

It's been a tough season for the Beavers with injuries robbing them of their top talent. The team is 1 and 5 for the year.

Starting quarterback Joey Bolinger, an up and coming player in KingCo dislocated a shoulder in the loss to Franklin on Sept. 22.

Bolinger is pretty much done for the year. There is a possibility he could return for the final game against 3A power Bellevue, but the team's playoff chances will be remote by then.

Running back Terrance Garcia who had run for 218 yards in 37 attempts is out with turf toe.

The team's All-KingCo wide receiver Schwaab had a sprained ankle but was back for the Roosevelt game.

"We have been slowed down offensively with no Joey, Terrance or Miles," said Head Coach Alex Barashkoff.

Barashkoff says backup quarterback Clayton Brenden has played well in replacing Bolinger. Now he benefits from getting all the repetitions in practice with the number one offense.

The team has beaten Juanita 29-21 for their only win. They lost to Woodinville 31-6, Redmond 32-0 and the Inglemoor Vikings19-0.

Barashkoff was happy with his defense in the Viking game played on Sept. 29.

The defense gave up only two field goals before allowing a long pass completion for a score and letting deflected ball get past them for a touchdown.

It was the offense that hurt the team with turnovers giving Inglemoor good field position.

Offensively the team was working on its running game at practice last week. They are also trying to hang onto the ball.

Barashkoff said his young Beavers have been effective with its running game, but end up loosing fumbles or getting penalities. In the Roosevelt game, Ballard was driving towards a possible score when they lost a fumble in the first quarter.

The team is very familiar with the wing-t offense run by most teams in KingCo by now.

He hopes to have some success defending the wing-t against Lake Washington in their next game on Oct. 13 at Memorial Stadium.

The wing-t is a mis-direction offense with multiple fakes and different looks.

"You have to be disciplined and stay home because you don't know where the ball is. If you don't do your assignment, you are in big trouble," said Barashkoff.

Ballard takes on Lake Washington on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Garfield on Oct. 20, 5 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. They meet Bellevue at Ingraham on Oct. 26, 7 p.m. The Garfield contest is the Homecoming game.