CAMAS — They will beat you up with kindness, the Camas football offensive line.
With smiles on their faces, they will move defenses, create holes for the ball carriers, protect their quarterback.
And when they watch their performances on video during the practice week, they will make fun of each other.
They loved watching Chip Sudbeck zig-zagging down the field, trying to find someone to block, while inadvertently getting in the way of his teammate — the one with the ball trying to run for more yards.
There are eight key players in the main rotation for the Camas offensive line. And of course, the ones who start, or play more minutes, crack on the ones who do not get as much time.
All in good fun, and it’s always fun to win.
The Papermakers are 8-0, including 5-0 in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League. Camas takes on Kelso (6-2, 4-1) tonight at Doc Harris Stadium for the league championship. And if the guys up front do their job for Camas, the Papermakers believe they will have a perfect regular season.
The line consists of a California transplant (Sudbeck), a long-haired guard (Justin Lebowsky), two guys who the coaches just call Deegan because they can’t figure out who is who (David Anderson and Keegan Dyehouse), one junior who plays tackle and center (Dylan Harris), then the guy who makes sure everyone knows he is the starting center (Trevor Clarkson), a loud athlete named after a Norse god (Odin Coe), and a player who belongs to the tight-ends-are-linemen-too party (Kyle Ervin).
Together, they make one long paragraph and one big family.
“I’ve played football for nine seasons, and this group is just so close,” Ervin said. “It’s like a brotherhood.”
Togetherness helps in so many ways.
“We’re not only doing it to become the best we can be (as individuals), we’re being the best we can be for everyone else,” added Lebowsky.
This team has been flawless this season, averaging 43 points per game. Last week, the starting offense was on the field for 15 plays. Camas gained 365 yards and scored six touchdowns in the stretch.
So as you can see, they might be all about having fun, but they also know how to take care business.
“Being vocal was the biggest thing I had to take on,” Clarkson, the center, said. “Just helping out with plays. I have to know my position and the other positions. I have to be all-knowing.”
“He’s like a god,” Coe joked.
And a guy named Odin would know, right?
Seriously, there are no gods here, just a tight-knit group of football players who understand the value that they provide to the team even if their names do not get on the score sheet.
“When we score on a 25-yard run, everyone thinks Zack (Marshall) did the running. It’s nice to know we’re the reason for it,” Clarkson said. “It’s a real selfless job. People who really understand football know.”
Don’t get them wrong. The linemen also understand that their skill-position teammates make their job easier, too. The line does not make every block on every play.
“We also have good running backs (and wide receivers) who make us look really good,” Coe said.
Quarterback Logan Grindy can go weeks without being touched. Marshall seems to score at will. The receivers find the end zone regularly, too.
But this story is about the linemen.
Sudbeck moved to Camas from Monterey, Calif. He was accepted immediately, and that was appreciated.
“I had to speed everything up,” he said. “I had to get to know the guys. I had to figure out the offense in a short amount of time.”
He also learned that his new teammates all shared a love for the game.
They also share a common goal. Camas, for all its success in recent years, has never won a state playoff football game. This year’s team, ranked No. 2 in the Seattle Times, has its sights set on more than just one win in the tournament.
At the beginning of this season, the team went on a long hike, up a mountain in the Columbia River gorge. Since then, the team’s motto has been “Keep Climbing.” A league championship is the first of many goals.
“I think about going to the dome,” Harris said, referring to the Tacoma Dome for the semifinals and finals. “This is the first step.”
“We’re past the switchbacks. Now it’s the steep stuff,” Anderson said, keeping with the hiking theme.
“There are no more easy teams,” Sudbeck added. “It’s all uphill.”
But it is a journey they have been looking forward to for a long time. The Papermakers will take it together, and they hope to have a lot of fun along the way.s
