Camas coach Jon Eagle addresses his team in the moments after losing 14-7 to Sumner at Sunset Chev Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 (Andy Buhler/Columbian staff)
SUMNER — After three quarters went by and the glowing number indicating Camas’ point total read “0,” the Papermaker defense came up with the big spark.
Shane Jamison’s 75-yard pick-six off a jumped screen pass early in the fourth quarter pulled Camas within a touchdown. The defense delivered stop after stop, but the Papermaker offense, despite a promising final drive, fell flat in the waning seconds.
Camas lost 14-7 to Sumner on Thursday night at Sunset Chev Stadium, and the offense that came into the night averaging 49.5 points through fives games was muffled as the Papermakers dropped to 3-3 on the season.
“We’ve just got to be a better football team,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said. “I asked the kids, coaches included, we need to look at what we’re doing and do a better job.”
Down one touchdown, the Papermakers got the ball back with 1:11 on the clock, and drove 61 yards in 1:08, thanks to Camas quarterback Andrew Boyle and receiver Luc Sturbelle.
“We saw they were kind of dropping off and we took advantage of that,” Boyle said.
The two connected four times for 45 yards to give the Papermakers two final looks at the end zone with seven seconds to play from the Sumner 11.
The first, a hitch route to Sturbelle in the front right corner of the end zone, was batted down by one of the three defenders in coverage.
With three second left, Boyle’s attempt to shake the pressure-filled pocket was nixed by a game-clinching sack.
“We had a shot. We wanted to throw a 50-50 ball into the end zone, maybe get a shot, didn’t work out,” Eagle said. “We thought maybe we’d get a break some point today, we just didn’t get it.”
When the offense struggled to get going, the defense held firm. A defensive stop on 4th and one at the Camas 26 gave the Papermakers the ball back for its final drive.
“It really shows the character of our team,” Boyle, who also recovered a fumble late in the third, said. “We’re never going to give up. We’re going to the last second every time. We had a good chance at the end there, we just didn’t convert.”
Stay informed on what is happening in Clark County, WA and beyond for only
Sumner scored both its touchdowns in the second quarter. The first was a one-yard run up the middle by Bryce Bostick midway through, then after a pick set up the Spartans’ next drive, Ra’Sun Williams capped it with a seven-yard touchdown run.
Any momentum Camas build on offense was undone by turnovers, and Sumner’s Donovan Clark played the reaper. Clark picked the Papermakers three times in the first half — Boyle once in the first quarter, Blair two times in the second.
One play after scrambling 37 yards on a third down midway through the first quarter, Boyle tried to reach Luc Sturbelle on a go route down the left sideline, but Clark picked him off in the end zone.
Clark intercepted Camas four times on the night, playing a key role in the Spartans’ campaign to keep the Camas offense rudderless or most of the game.
The last time Camas and Sumner faced was in the 2016 semifinals, where the Papermakers’ 24-point win cleared its way to a 4A state championship victory.
This time, the Papermakers appeared to be on track for a shutout, which would have been its first scoreless outing since Sept. 17, 2004.
“We have a lot of character,” Boyle said. “We’re always fighting. We may go down, but it’s how we respond. We battle back every time, and we keep doing that.”
