Camas makes pulp of Jesuit

CAMAS — Washington’s best is better than Oregon’s best.

Way, way better.

The Camas Papermakers, with all the hype of being the top-ranked team in Class 4A Washington, opened the 2013 season by crushing Oregon’s top-ranked Class 6A program.

Nate Beasley had four of his five touchdowns in the first half, quarterback Reilly Hennessey was near perfect, and the Papermakers whipped the Jesuit Crusaders 47-14 Friday night at Doc Harris Stadium.

“We knew we were going to have to step up another notch and prove to everybody we’re as good as we think we are,” said Hennessey, who completed 14 of 17 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns. “And we want to get better.”

At the same time, the Papermakers promised they will not back off from their practice habits, even after a lopsided win over a quality opponent.

“It gives us a great base to go off of, but we can’t get high and mighty yet,” said Beasley, who caught three passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for two more scores. “We have the whole season in front of us.”

For seven minutes, this game looked like it was going to be played just as billed: Best v. Best. The Papermakers needed just four plays and 57 seconds to make it 7-0 on a Beasley 4-yard touchdown run. Jesuit responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive to tie the contest.

Then it was all Camas in front of a packed home stadium.

Hennessey found Beasley on a 54-yard screen pass to make it 14-7. Three minutes later, the Camas defense scored when Dylan White intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards to the house.

“Got to give it up to my D-line,” White said, referring to the pressure on the Jesuit quarterback. “Without them, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity. They put in the hard work down there. It all goes to them.”

Camas had three offensive drives in the second quarter — all touchdowns. There was a 10-yard swing pass to Beasley, a Beasley 5-yard run, and then a 17-yard pass from Hennessey to James Price to make it 40-7.

“With so many guys back from last year, it felt like we picked up right where we left off,” Hennessey said.

There were no first-game jitters for Camas, going up against a Jesuit (1-1) squad that played last week.

“You step on the field and you feel like you haven’t stopped,” the quarterback said. “You see your brothers out there, and it’s ‘Let’s get back at it.'”

Camas receiver Zach Eagle, one of those “brothers” Hennessey was talking about, had seven catches for 118 yards in the half. It was later learned that Jesuit coaches were calling the 5-9 speedy receiver Wes Welker, now starring for the Denver Broncos.

The defense looked just as strong as the offense.

“We had some mental mistakes on the first drive, but after that it was light’s-out D,” linebacker Adam Dawson said. “Huge shout-out to the coaches. We did exactly what they said.”

There was still one more thing for the Papermakers to accomplish in the second half, and it took them less than two minutes to do it.

The Camas defense forced a three-and-out punt, and the Papermakers scored on their first play from scrimmage, a 55-yard pass from Hennessey to Beasley. That made it 47-7 with 10:49 left in the third quarter. That made it a running clock against Jesuit.

“I’m kind of taken aback by the whole thing, too,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said.

Jesuit would score the last touchdown, long past the competitive phase of the game.

“It’s honestly unreal,” Dawson said. “You think about it. No. 1 team in Oregon. No one expected that.”

If it is possible, the Camas hype from around the Northwest will only increase in intensity now.

“It is really big. It will send a message,” White said. “But I don’t want it to stop us from working. It is pretty cool, though.”

CAMAS 47, JESUIT 14

Jesuit 7 0 0 7–14

Camas 21 19 7 0–47

First quarter

Cam – Nate Beasley 4 run (Caleb Lightbourn kick)

Jes – Joey Alfieri 2 pass from Eric Restic (Patrick Carley kick)

Cam – Beasley 54 pass from Reilly Hennessey (Lightbourn kick)

Cam – Dylan White 50 interception return (Lightbourn kick)

Second quarter

Cam – Beasley 10 pass from Hennessey (Lightbourn kick)

Cam – Beasley 5 run (kick failed)

Cam – James Price 17 pass from Hennessey (PAT failed, bad snap)

Third quarter

Cam – Beasley 55 pass from Hennessey (Lightbourn kick)

Fourth quarter

Jes – Trent Werner 4 pass from Jack Hamburg (Carley kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Jesuit: Chase Morrison 23-73, Alfieri 9-59, Restic 2-2, Werner 3-16, Matthew Ferguson 2-2, Jason Talley 6-77. Camas: Beasley 11-41, Hennessey 1-(-8), Zach Eagle 1-(-1), Brian Kelly 3-4, Cole Zarcone 7-58, Reid Conlee 1-17.

PASSING — Jesuit: Restic 7-15-2-100, Ferguson 1-1-0-11, Hamburg 1-2-0-4. Camas: Hennessey 14-17-0-277.

RECEIVING — Jesuit: Henry Mondeaux 1-17, Werner 5-74, Alfieri 1-2, Morrison 1-11, Christian Martinek 1-11. Camas: Eagle 7-118, Beasley 3-119, Michael Johnson 1-13, Jorden Payne 1-8, Price 1-17, Michael DiGenova 1-2.