Camas one step away from state title

TACOMA — Camas senior defensive back Jorden Payne said it hit him with about two minutes left in the game Saturday night in the Tacoma Dome.

The game had long been decided. He and the Papermakers were going to advance to the Class 4A state championship game, and that was when Payne noticed one of his teammates, one of the toughest guys in Clark County, Michael DiGenova.

“I saw DiGenova tearing up,” Payne said.

It got a little emotional on the Camas sideline. Tears of joy. Tears of accomplishment.

Camas beat Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma 49-21 in the semifinals to advance to the program’s first appearance in the championship game. The Papermakers will play Chiawana of Pasco at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.

“These guys are my brothers. We battle as brothers,” Payne said. “It honestly makes me so happy to be here with them.”

Payne said he and his football family are just living in the moment.

DiGenova recalled when this moment actually began: a long time ago, in fact.

“This means everything to me. The whole team has been looking forward to this,” said DiGenova, one of the best linebackers in the state and also a quality tight end. “This was the goal since playing together in elementary school. We were going to be there one day. It’s a great feeling when you actually get there.”

The Papermakers made it to the title game after losing in the semifinals the past two seasons.

No chance of that this season.

Quarterback Reilly Hennessey threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns, Zach Eagle caught 11 passes for 170 yards and those three scores, and the Camas offense totalled 581 yards of offense in the victory.

Camas coach Jon Eagle also remembers when his son and friends started playing together way back when.

“We dreamed about this with these kids since they were in elementary school. Maybe one day.” he said. “You say things like that, you don’t think that day’s ever going to get here. Here we are.”

Nate Beasley rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown for the Papermakers against Bellarmine Prep. His 42-yard run on his first touch of the game set up the first touchdown.

Eagle caught a 10-yard TD pass from Hennessey for a 7-0 lead just 93 seconds into the game. The two teamed up to make it 14-0 just a few minutes later on an 11-yard scoring play. They capped the first-half scoring when Eagle took a swing pass from Hennessey and went 41 yards for a score to make it 35-14.

Hennessey completed his first eight passes for 118 yards.

“It’s not so much me being in a zone, it’s more of our tempo,” Hennessey said. “We’re just running the plays. That’s when it feels good, with that timing, play after play after play.”

It also helps that Hennessey has Eagle and Eagle has Hennessey.

“We’ve played together for so long,” Eagle said. “We’re on the same page. We’re thinking the same things. We are able to see the defense and attack it in the right ways.”

Still, the defenses have seen the video. They know Eagle is a threat, so they are trying to take him out of the play. No problem for the Papermakers. DiGenova caught six passes for a career-high 134 yards.

“It’s exciting to see when people try to take away Zach,” Hennessey said. “I have three or four other guys who can do just as much damage. Don’t be fooled. We have so many weapons.”

The Papermakers can pass or run. Besides Beasley doing his thing, Cole Zarcone came off the bench and rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown. Defensive lineman-turned-ramming-truck-while-on-offense Jason Vailea rushed for two touchdowns.

The offense recorded 49 plays in the first half for 406 yards.

The Camas defense, meanwhile, limited the Lions to 93 yards in the first half, 269 in the game.

Adam Dawson had a sack, Dylan White returned to action after a hand injury and provided a lift, Dalton Wunderlich and Gabe Lopes used their smarts to stop screen passes, Beasley had a pass defended near the end zone, and Michael Johnson had a tackle-for-loss.

Put it all together, and it was the 13th win in 13 games for the Papermakers.

Next up is 12-1 Chiawana.

“Their head coach (Steve Graff) has great experience in championship games,” Jon Eagle said, noting Graff’s three state titles with Pasco. “They are well coached, physical, with a great defense and balance on offense.”

Time for the Papermakers to get to work preparing for the Riverhawks.

Getting to the championship game is the realization of one dream for Camas, but the Papermakers want more tears of joy after the final game of the season, too.

CAMAS 49, BELLARMINE PREP 21

Bellarmine 7 7 0 7–21

Camas 21 14 7 7–49

First quarter

Cam — Zach Eagle 10 pass from Reilly Hennessey (Michael Boyle kick)

Cam — Eagle 11 pass from Hennessey (Boyle kick)

BP — Garrett McKay 10 pass from Lou Millie (Matt Philichi kick)

Cam — Jason Vailea 5 run (Michael Boyle kick)

Second quarter

Cam — Nate Beasley 2 run (Boyle kick)

BP — Ahmad Lewis 2 run (Philichi kick)

Cam — Eagle 41 pass from Hennessey (Boyle kick)

Third quarter

Cam — Vailea 3 run (Boyle kick)

Fourth quarter

Cam — Cole Zarcone 9 run (Boyle kick)

BP — McKay 35 pass from Millie (Philichi kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Bellarmine Prep: Nathan Goltermann-Doyle 12-38, Millie 16-44, Lewis 2-4. Camas: Beasley 27-128, Zarcone 8-68, Hennessey 9-35, Vailea 2-8.

PASSING — Bellarmine Prep: Millie 13-25-1-183. Camas: Hennessey 21-32-1-343.

RECEIVING — Bellarmine Prep: McKay 5-89, Goltermann-Doyle 4-61, Drew Griffin 3-30, Lewis 1-3. Camas: E.agle 11-170, DiGenova 6-134, Slav Mikhalets 2-14, James Price 1-13, Jorden Payne 1-12.