Camas halts Evergreen’s rise

CAMAS — Evergreen went to Camas hoping to measure up to an established program.

But the Papermakers quickly distanced themselves from another opponent with a burst of big plays, beating the Plainsmen 49-7 in a Friday game that was over by halftime.

As impressive as the explosive offensive plays were, it was another bang-up performance from the Camas defense that stood out. Against an Evergreen team with some speed and elusiveness, the Papermakers (4-0, 1-0 4A GSHL) forced five turnovers and limited the Plainsmen (2-2, 1-1 4A GSHL) to 174 yards of offense.

“I thought our defense was spectacular,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said.

Cole Zarcone said the Papermakers were prepared and confident.

“Our defensive coaches did a good job of preparing us and we were ready for everything that they threw at us tonight,” Zarcone said. “Very pleased with our defensive effort tonight.”

The offense wasn’t too shabby, either. Camas scored twice in the first 2:10, and pulled away with three touchdowns in the final 5:48 of the first half to lead 43-0 at intermission.

“What got the juices flowing is those big guys up front and the wide receivers block like crazy on the outside. When they do run routes and catch the ball, it pushes back the defense and we can run even more,” running back Bryan Kelly said.

Kelly ran for 187 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, all in the first half. Zarcone carried five times for 83 yards including a 53-yard scoring run. By halftime, the Papermakers had 463 yards of offense.

Camas quarterback Liam Fitzgterald threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns, completing 11 of 22 passes and playing only the first half.

One downer for Camas was a knee injury to senior receiver Dane Santos. Eagle said after the game that it might be a season-ending injury. It happened midway through the second quarter when Santos caught a pass for 22 yards and a first down then took a late hit on the sideline. It was unclear if the late hit caused the injury, but it certainly riled up the Papermakers.

In the final six minutes of the first half, Zarcone ripped off a 53-yard touchdown run, James Price turned a short pass into a 57-yard TD, and Kelly covered 48 yards on three plays in the final 30 seconds before halftime.

“Great running backs had some great runs and the offensive line made some great blocks up front,” Eagle said of the dynamic finish to the first half.

Evergreen coach Don Johnson, Jr., said his team made mistakes that can’t happen against top-flight opposition.

“To play a team like that whose destination is a championship you’ve got to play championship football and turnovers don’t provide that,” Johnson said. “We put the football on the ground in a hostile environment and it showed on the scoreboard.”

CAMAS 49, EVERGREEN 7

Evergreen 0 0 7 0– 7

Camas 22 21 0 6–49

First quarter

Cam — Bryan Kelly 4 run (kick blocked)

Cam — Jared Bentley 7 pass from Liam Fitzgerald (run failed)

Cam — Dane Santos 2 pass from Fitzgerald (Caleb Lightbourn kick)

Cam — Lightbourn 35 FG

Second quarter

Cam — Cole Zarcone 53 run (Lightbourn kick)

Cam — James Price 57 pass from Fitzgerald (Lightbourn kick)

Cam — Kelly 1 run (Brendan Geignenmille kick)

Third quarter

Eve — Justice Murphy 10 pass from Jerrin Williams (Dallas Goodpaster kick)

Fourth quarter

Cam — Jordan Del Moral 12 run (kick failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Evergreen: Rey Green 4-13, Dallas Goodpaster 4-8, Jerrin Williams 10-53, Billy Nelson 5-14, Micah Bishop-Brown 3-(minus 1) team 2-(minus 13). Camas: Bryan Kelly 11-187, Cole Zarcone 5-88, Jordan Del Moral 12-59, Bentley 1-4, Fitzgerald 2-1, Stephen Jesmer 2-0, Team 2-(minus 10).

PASSING — Evergreen: Williams 9-23-2-100. Camas: Liam Fitzgerald 12-22-1-187, Vinny Gennaro 1-1-0-10.

RECEIVING — Evergreen: Justice Murphy 4-60, Kobey Eaton 1-14, Nelson 3-20, Green 1-6. Camas: James Price 4-88, Dane Santos 3-34, Jared Bentley 4-59, Hunter Bruno 1-6, Del Moral 1-10.