Kiggins Bowl wasn’t ready for all this Papermaking, and neither was Skyview.
The lights shut off at the stadium with about five minutes left in the third quarter. By then, the Camas football team had already sucked the juice out of the Storm.
The game resumed after about a 20-minute delay, and the Papermakers put the finishing touches on a 47-12 league opening victory.
“I will remember this game forever because of that,” said running back Cole Zarcone. “It was just like the Super Bowl.”
Zarcone had more reasons to remember this game. The junior blocked a punt with his helmet and the ball sailed through the uprights for a safety. On the next series, Zarcone took the ball into the end zone on an 18-yard run.
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime play,” he said of the blocked punt. “It was just as good as my touchdown. I would say it was even better.”
The Papermakers sailed onward through the Storm with plenty of offense and defense in a 47-0 first half. Jorden Payne snagged a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Reilly Hennessey. Skyview felt Payne again when the senior intercepted a pass out in the open and returned it for a 55-yard touchdown.
“It’s pretty exciting to contribute to the team as much as I can, but I can’t take all the credit,” Payne said. “The O-line was giving Reilly lots of time to throw the ball. On defense, everybody was doing their job. It gives us a chance to make a big play.”
Adam Dawson caused a fumble on defense. Brad Hansen picked up the football and took it in for a 23-yard touchdown.
“That’s the first time I touched the ball since middle school,” Hansen said. “Coming into this game, we were 0-0. Getting that first league win sets the tone for the rest of the season.”
Hennessey kept the hot potato sizzling. He completed 12 of his 18 passes for 144 yards in the first half. He also ran for 42 yards.
“When you get the opening kickoff and score, it gives you a lot of confidence,” said head coach Jon Eagle. “Reilly extended plays and he was pretty accurate. Our receivers made some tremendous catches and that helped us get those third and fourth down conversions.”
It only took Camas 1 minute, 59 seconds to score a touchdown. Jason Vailea carried the ball across the goal line after Payne and Zach Eagle made acrobatic catches for first downs. Nate Beasley also carved into the defense with his running. He came back into the game after getting the wind knocked out of him and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run. Caleb Lightborn kicked a 34-yard field goal.
The Papermakers play Evergreen Friday, at McKenzie Stadium. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Camas then hosts Union and Heritage before finishing the league schedule at Battle Ground.
“Win the day every day at practice,” Zarcone said. “No matter what team it is, no matter what day it is, we can’t stop. We got to keep rolling.”
