4A GSHL football: Camas 49, Battle Ground 21

Camas 49, Battle Ground 21

Celebrating only the second undefeated regular season in program history, the band played cheery songs and Camas Papermaker fans remained on the field at Doc Harris Stadium long after the conclusion of their team’s win over Battle Ground.

On this feel-good Friday in Camas, the Papermakers wrapped their Greater St. Helen’s League championship with a rousing romp before the start of next weekend’s Class 4A state playoffs.

Camas improved to 9-0, which according to fifth-year head coach Jon Eagle is only the second time a Papermaker team has met perfection. Although his team’s record gleams, Eagle still found a few smudges to nitpick.

“It was not our best performance,” Eagle said. “This is homecoming and everybody’s talking about playoffs and everybody’s talking about stats. It wasn’t our best performance.”

Junior quarterback Reilly Hennessey stepped back on his first attempt and tossed an interception and in the first half, an aggressive Camas defense drew 45 yards worth of penalties on a pair of helmet-to-helmet hits and one personal foul. Even so, the Papermakers never lost control of the game.

After the early turnover, Camas struck with skillful precision to score 21 points through the first quarter.

Junior running back Nate Beasley went off left tackle from three yards out for the first Camas score. Then during Battle Ground’s responding drive, Camas junior defensive back Zach Eagle picked off quarterback Ian Humphrey and returned the interception 43 yards for the touchdown. Before the end of the first quarter, senior running back Vicente Huber also punched in a 15-yard score.

Although Battle Ground (5-4) worked his spread attack for two scores in the second quarter, Camas broke down the Tigers with its two-minute drill offense. With Camas facing a fourth-and-long situation from the Tigers’ 41 yard, a Battle Ground holding play gave the Papermakers new life 10 yards closer to the end zone. Just a few plays later, Hennessey connected with Connor Maloney for a 13-yard touchdown, which gave the Papermakers an indestructible 35-13 halftime edge.

“I thought the drive … was exceptional,” Jon Eagle said. “I thought that was really good for us to have that challenge heading into the playoffs.”

Hennessey finished the game with 15-of-25 passing accuracy for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Beasley produced 73 yards rushing and two scores and also hauled in an interception.

CAMAS 49, BATTLE GROUND 21

B. Ground 0 13 0 8–21

Camas 21 14 14 0–49

First quarter

C — Nate Beasley 3 run (Roldan Alcobendas kick)

C — Zach Eagle 43 interception return (Alcobendas kick)

C — Vicente Huber 15 run (Alcobendas kick)

Second quarter

BG — Ian Humphrey 1 run (kick failed)

C — John Norcross 4 run (Alcobendas kick)

BG — Colby Cahoon 14 pass from Ian Humphrey (Cole Hess kick)

C — Connor Maloney 13 pass from Reilly Hennessey (Alcobendas kick)

Third quarter

C — Beasley 10 run (Alcobendas kick)

C — Dylan White 8 pass from Hennessey (Alcobendas kick)

Fourth quarter

BG — Kevin Haynes 8 run (Manny Martinez pass from Ian Humphrey)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Camas — Vincente Huber 7-77, Nate Beasley 14-73, Cole Zarcone 5-32, Bryan Kelly 1-1, Reilly Hennessey 2- (minus 7). Battle Ground — Kevin Haynes 20-95, Trevor Ingram 7-14, Blake Billingsley 3-3, Ian Humphrey 10-3.

PASSING — Camas — Hennessey 15-25-2-226. Battle Ground — Humphrey 12-30-1-150.

RECEIVING — Camas — Dylan White 6-70-1. Battle Ground — Jake Sachen 6-75.