The Camas Papermakers are Class 4A Greater St. Helens League champions again.
But it didn’t come without a fight.
Mountain View battled the Papermakers all the way to the end before Camas broke through with a 35-17 victory Friday at McKenzie Stadium.
“That was a real football game,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said. “Mountain View is a well-coached, talented team, and we were fortunate to come away with a victory.”
The numbers showed another solid outing from the Papermakers. Quarterback Liam Fitzgerald threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Jordan Del Moral rushed for 179 yards and two scores.
But those numbers mask the hard-hitting nature of the contest.
“I’m a little sore after this,” said Fitzgerald, who was sacked five times by the Thunder. “I knew they had some big guys, and they’re great players. They played a great game.”
Camas opened the game by driving 79 yards for the first score, a 5-yard touchdown run by Fitzgerald.
But then the Thunder defense forced two fumbles from the Papermakers. Mountain View converted one fumble into a touchdown on a 24-yard run by Preston Jones, and turned the second fumble into a 26-yard field goal by Colin Biggs that gave the Thunder a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
Camas regained the lead on Hunter Bruno’s 13-yard touchdown pass from Fitzgerald, and Bruno protected that lead with an interception in the closing minute of the first half.
In the second half, it was the Camas defense’s turn to step up.
The Papermakers held Jones to a season-low 77 yards rushing on 19 carries.
“We’ve got a ton of good players on defense,” junior linebacker Michael Mathews said. “We just get guys lineup correctly and play from there.”
The defense got a turnover deep in Thunder territory in the third quarter, and Del Moral made it pay off with a 21-yard touchdown reception to make it 21-10.
After another defensive stand, Del Moral’s 3-yard TD run gave Camas a 28-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Mountain View cut the deficit to 28-17 on Taj Albeck’s 10-yard TD run before the Camas line and Del Moral sealed the victory.
Camas drove 71 yards on six plays – all rushes by Del Moral with the last one going 42 yards for the touchdown.
“We just kept getting some push from our line,” Eagle said. “And Jordan is a first-team all-league caliber player at running back.”
Camas still has Heritage next week, but with a two-game lead with one week to go, the league title is secured.
“It feels good,” Fitzgerald said. “We still have some things we need to improve on, but it feels good to be league champs again.”
CAMAS 35, MOUNTAIN VIEW 17
Camas 7 7 7 14–35
Mt. View 7 3 0 7–17
First quarter
C — Liam Fitzgerald 5 run (Michael Boyle kick)
MV — Preston Jones 24 run (Colin Biggs kick)
Second quarter
MV — Biggs 26 FG
C — Hunter Bruno 13 pass from Fitzgerald (Boyle kick)
Third quarter
C — Jordan Del Moral 21 pass from Fitzgerald (Boyle kick)
Fourth quarter
C — Del Moral 3 run (Boyle kick)
MV — Taj Albeck 10 run (Biggs kick)
C — Del Moral 42 run (Boyle kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Camas: Del Moral 24-179, Manase Nguamo 1-3, Fitzgerald 9-(-29). Mountain View: Jones 19-77, Anthony Ramirez 19-63, Albeck 11-36, Biggs 3-23.
PASSING — Camas: Fitzgerald 16-26-0-229. Mountain View: Biggs 4-13-2-69.
RECEIVING — Camas: Jared Bentley 7-84, Drake Owen 3-51, Hunter Bruno 4-48, Blake Roy 1-25, Del Moral 1-21. Mountain View: Darien Chase 2-53, Kyle Moen 2-16.
