Jon Eagle’s way of handling his quarterback situation? Let ’em play for it. Camas started senior Andrew Boyle Friday night with the plan to sub in sophomore Jake Blair on the third series, and rotate until one proved to have the hot hand.
That turned out to be Blair.
After throwing an interception for a touchdown on his first varsity snap under center, which compounded the Papermakers’ early 31-point deficit, Blair provided the spark as Camas pieced together 29 consecutive points with a shot at tying in the final minutes.
“I just had a bunch of adrenaline,” Blair said. “Building that confidence.”
Down 31-0 in the final second of the first half, Blair connected with senior wideout Shane Jamison for a 50-yard touchdown.
He played the entire second half, finishing with 208 yards in the air connecting on 13 of 25 attempts with two touchdowns and a pick.
Despite Blair’s performance, which drew praise from elder teammates, Eagle said the position is not decided.
“I thought he did some really good things,” Eagle said. “Got us back in the game. I’m not going to stand here and say we’ve made a decision at quarterback, but the young guy had the hot hand and we stayed with it.”
All-purpose McGee
Skyview asks a lot of Jalynnee McGee. And that took a toll on the standout out junior.
McGee was all over the field in the Storm’s opener against Yelm — offense, defense, special teams.
But he was on the sideline when Skyview was trying to drive for the winning score in the final minutes.
“He was cramping up,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “He was doing a lot — running the ball, playing safety, punting, kickoff returns. And there’s nothing that compares to actually playing in the game. It’s not the same as practice.”
McGee rushed 19 times for 118 yards and a touchdown. He caught four passes for 104 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown. He also punted four times for Skyview.
Impressive debuts
They might be young, but a number of freshmen had impressive showings in their teams’ season-opening victories.
Nikki Scott became the third freshman to start a varsity game for Heritage coach Matt Gracey in Gracey’s tenure coaching the Timberwolves. Friday, he led Heritage to a 21-17 victory over Evergreen, including orhastracing the game-winning drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kahai Umiamaka with 27 seconds remaining. He finished with 253 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Scott is in elite company in Gracey’s coaching career, which includes stops in California, Arizona and Port Angeles before arriving in Vancouver four years ago. Scott is Gracey’s second freshman to start a varsity game.
Saturday, Seton Catholic started a two-way freshman CJ Hamlin in its 40-0 shutout of 3A Fort Vancouver. Hamlin had a number of tackles in addition to an all-around offensive game that included team-highs in rushing and receiving yards.
Nightcap for defense
Football fans who took in the doubleheader at McKenzie Stadium saw two completely different styles of games.
In the opener, Skyview and Yelm combined for 86 points and more than 900 yards of offense. In the nightcap, defense ruled. And that suited Washougal just fine in its 16-13 win over Hudson’s Bay.
“The more physical, the better,” said linebacker Brevan Bea “The harder they hit, the harder we hit.”
Washougal allowed just 80 yards in a scoreless first half. Bay finished with 290 yards of offense, but 129 of those game on two long passes from Carter Morse to Jacquez McDonald.
“We just kept working hard,” said Jakob Davis, who had a 14-yard touchdown catch and a game-sealing fumble recovery. “We didn’t let fatigue get to us. That’s one thing coach (Dave Hajek) has been preaching. … We had fun out there and worked really, really hard.”
• Hudson’s Bay showed two different looks at quarterback.
Dylan Damos, a 5-foot-7, 145 freshman, started. Carter Morse, a 6-foot-1, 190 senior, took over in the second quarter.
Both played in place of projected senior Parker Marsh, who said Saturday he’s recovering from an injury at the team’s jamboree last week. Morse completed 8 of 11 passes for 184 yards and showed the ability to gain tough yards with his feet, rushing 12 times for 25 yards.
Yaacoub triumphant in return
A little less than a year ago, Camas running back Randy Yaacoub wondered whether he’d return to the football field.
On Friday night, he did, in a big way.
The junior, in his first game since suffering a fractured rib and fibula last September, broke loose for a 21-yard touchdown run to bring Camas within a score with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter. It was a crucial moment in a momentous comeback.
“It feels amazing,” Yaacoub said. “It’s all in the head when you’re coning back from an injury and scoring gives me the belief that I can do this.”
