Moments after Camas’ thrilling double-overtime win against Skyview on Tuesday night, there were already calls going out for a three-team football tiebreaker between Camas, Skyview and Union.
But as of Wednesday afternoon, it did not appear that tiebreaker will happen.
Camas athletic director Rory Oster said a tiebreaker would require his school to make a significant concession he was not ready to make.
“From the start, we as a league have tried to prioritize the opportunity for kids to play over things like league titles,” Oster said. “And I’ve been a part of tiebreakers before, and it just doesn’t replace a full game.”
Oster said Camas had reserved April 2 as its senior night and there are activities planned. Also, the shorter format of a tiebreaker could cheat some players out of the opportunity to get playing time in varsity competition.
Camas already had its bye week on March 5, then had its March 12 game against Battle Ground wiped off the schedule by a COVID-19 outbreak among its student body.
“Union has a bye week (April 2), so I can understand why they want to do it,” Oster said. “And Skyview will have played six games by that date. But we will have only played four. … I agree that it would be a fun event, but I feel like we just ran out of time for it.”
Camas’ 38-31 win over Skyview created a memory not soon forgotten among local fans and players.
But it also created a strong possibility that all three teams will finish with one loss.
Rory Rosenbach, Union’s coach and athletic director, suggested Wednesday the teams play in a tiebreaker on April 2 to cap this unusual football season. It would also provide a showcase for the 4A Greater St. Helens League that has produced three of the past four 4A state champions.
The league schedule on April 2 has Camas hosting Prairie, Skyview playing at Battle Ground and Union idle. Rosenbach has been trying to fill that date with a non-league opponent, but without much luck.
So the idea was to have Prairie and Battle Ground play each other on April 2. The two rivals, both searching for their first wins of this season, were not scheduled to meet in this shortened season.
That would open up the date for the tiebreaker between Union, Camas and Skyview.
Prairie, Battle Ground and Skyview were all open to the schedule change. But Camas was not.
“I thought it would be a fun way to end the season and would benefit a lot of kids at a lot of different schools,” Rosenbach said. “But at the same time you have to look at all sides. And I understand where (Camas) is coming from.”
Rosenbach said that the schools are still discussing the matter, trying to find a solution that benefits all parties.
“If it happens, we’ll be excited to be a part of it,” Rosenbach said. “But if it doesn’t, we’ll just finish out our season as planned.”
