Camas surge sinks Skyview

CAMAS — This game was close for a while Friday night.

Really. It was.

Then it wasn’t.

The second-ranked Camas Papermakers scored 35 points in a row, extending a four-point lead to 39, and cruised to a 56-24 victory over No. 10 Skyview at Doc Harris Stadium in a Class 4A Greater St. Helens League game.

Liam Fitzgerald completed 21 of 28 passes for 366 yards and five touchdowns — and also ran for another score — as the Papermakers won their 16th consecutive game against Clark County competition and their 24th consecutive league victory.

James Price caught nine passes for 171 yards and three of Fitzgerald’s touchdowns.

Camas scored the last touchdown of the first half to make it 28-17, then recorded the first four touchdowns of the second half.

Bryan Kelly rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He gave the Papermakers an emotional lift with his gesture to change his number from 33 to 6 in honor of injured teammate Dane Santos.

Kelly broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the game.

“As soon as I came off the field, I said ‘That was for you.’ I looked in his eyes, and he knew that was for him,” Kelly said.

Santos, a senior wide receiver, learned this week that his season was over after a knee injury sustained last week.

“That’s the thing that kept my spirits up,” Santos said, seeing his No. 6 still on the field. “Last week he asked if he could wear my jersey so I could still be with him on the field. That’s special.”

It was a fast start for the Papermakers (5-0, 2-0 GSHL), but the Storm (3-2, 2-1) were not intimidated.

They tied the game at 7 on a Skyler Martin touchdown pass from Zac Shomler.

Fitzgerald scored on an 8-yard run and then Skyview responded with a 44-yard field goal from Braden Hadfield to make it 14-10.

Price was ruled in bound on a leaping catch in the end zone to make it 21-10, but then the Storm got a TD back on Blake Ingram’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:10 to play in the first half.

Turned out, that was plenty of time for the Papermakers. Masters of the two-minute offense, the Papermakers scored with 33 seconds left on the clock when Fitzgerald found Cole Zarcone on a 14-yard scoring play.

Still, for Camas, this was a close game at the half.

“I think it was a good test,” Fitzgerald said. “We were grinding it out in the first half. We pulled ourselves together and pushed hard. And the defense shut them down.”

Zarcone, also playing safety, credited the Camas coaches for putting the defense in position to succeed. Skyview, after scoring 17 points in the first half, had nothing in the second half until reserves cashed in late in the game.

“If everyone’s doing their jobs, we’ll stop them,” Zarcone said.

Jared Bentley caught a touchdown pass to open the second-half scoring for the Papermakers, then Price got two more touchdowns in the 21-point third quarter.

“Halftime was just full of adjustments,” Price said. “A lot of communicating to see what we could fix. It’s a rare occasion when we have to fight both halves. Never give up.”

Kelly, who opened the scoring, ended it for Camas with a 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

“I just think it was so amazing that we never let our heads down,” Kelly said. “We kept our foot on the gas, always looking ahead. We proved we can play more than a half of football. We can play a full game. We can go all the way.”

The Papermakers ended up with 638 yards of offense. They held Skyview’s first team to 269 yards.

Skyview’s Aaron Wise did get the Storm on the board in the second half with a 22-yard touchdown run at the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

By that time, Camas had imposed its will again on a Southwest Washington opponent. Since losing a then non-league game to Skyview in 2011, the closest game Camas has played against a Clark County team has been 22 points.

This one was close for a bit.

Then it was all Camas.

CAMAS 56, SKYVIEW 24

Skyview 7 10 0 7–24

Camas 14 14 21 7–56

First quarter

Cam — Bryan Kelly 56 run (Caleb Lightbourn kick)

Sky — Skyler Martin 3 pass from Zac Shomler (Braden Hadfield kick)

Cam — Liam Fitzgerald 8 run (Lightbourn kick)

Second quarter

Sky — Hadfield 44 FG

Cam — James Price 18 pass from Fitzgerald (Lightbourn kick)

Sky — Blake Ingram 2 run (Hadfield kick)

Cam — Cole Zarcone 14 pass from Fitzgerald (Lightbourn kick)

Third quarter

Cam — Jared Bentley 6 pass from Fitzgerald (Lightbourn kick)

Cam — Price 16 pass from Fitzgerald (Lightbourn kick)

Cam — Price 37 pass from Fitzgerald (Brendan Geignenmiller kick)

Fourth quarter

Cam — Kelly 5 run (Michael Boyle kick)

Sky — Aaron Wise 22 run (Hadfield kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Skyview: Josh Emmy 13-39, Ingram 12-44, Shomler 2-(minus 8), Wise 6-55. Camas: Zarcone 10-71, Kelly 11-106, Fitzgerald 8-29, Jordan Del Moral 8-21, Stephen Jesmer 3-26, Elias Bashir 2-16, Luke Morovitz 1-6, Vinny Gennaro 1-(minus 3, victory formation).

PASSING — Skyview: Shomler 13-29-0-194, Brody Barnum 2-3-0-10. Camas: Fitzgerald 21-28-0-366.

RECEIVING — Skyview: Martin 4-33, Nate Rider 3-18, Marcus Lord 2-59, Bryson Enge 3-72, Cameron Sissel 1-12, Taylor Johnson 1-7, Travis Yajko 1-3. Camas: Price 9-171, Zarcone 2-31, Blake Roy 4-81, Jared Bentley 5-68, Kelly 1-15.