Saturday was a great day of high school football at McKenzie Stadium.
In fact, you could say it was nearly perfect.
Earlier in the week, it looked like Doc Harris Stadium might be the site of the semifinal doubleheader.
Doc Harris was a WIAA-approved site to host a semifinal game. Camas officials were interested in hosting, and Gonzaga Prep was OK playing on Camas’ home field.
Seton Catholic had played its previous two playoff games there, so the Cougars were ready to return to Camas.
But the WIAA said no.
WIAA officials worried that the limited parking around Doc Harris would become an issue with the exiting fans from the 1 p.m. Camas-Gonzaga Prep games and the arriving fans for the 4 p.m. Seton Catholic-Montesano matchup.
Also McKenzie Stadium had a good track record, hosting state semifinals football doubleheaders in 2016 and 2018.
As fans arrived Saturday, McKenzie Stadium lacked the buzz it had when Camas faced Sumner in the 2016 semifinal. That day the stadium was nearly packed.
Gonzaga Prep fans only filled about two-thirds of the visiting grandstand — understandable given the six-hour drive from Spokane.
But with about 20 minutes before kickoff, it was eerily quiet on the Camas side. The Camas High School band, which does a really good job of getting everyone fired up for kickoff with its pre-game routines, was absent, leaving a large vacancy in the grandstand.
The band was scheduled to depart Camas High School at noon for the nine-mile trip to McKenzie Stadium. But the buses got delayed en route.
About 15 minutes prior to kickoff, the band arrived, much to the relief of Jason Castro, the event manager for the day.
“We were about 15 minutes away from starting this game with the Pledge of Allegiance,” Castro said.
The Camas band got in place to perform the National Anthem, and the game began under clear blue, if just a bit chilly, skies.
On the field, the Camas-Gonzaga Prep game was everything anyone could ask for. The Gonzaga fans were fired up as the Bullpups took a 20-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Then Camas rallied back to score touchdowns on each of the next three possessions, sending the home fans into a frenzy as the Papermakers came away with a 28-20 win.
Camas will play in its fourth state championship football game when the Papermakers meet Sumner at 7 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
There was some concern that the 4 p.m. scheduled kickoff of the second game Saturday might not start on time. But the Camas game ended around 3:15 p.m.
Yet as the Papermakers celebrated, the Seton Catholic and Montesano players were nowhere to be seen.
Normally during doubleheaders at McKenzie, teams will gather in the area behind each end zone to begin stretching. Then, they take the field once the first game is over.
But on Saturday, both Seton and Monte began their pre-game warmups up on the field at Evergreen High School.
Eventually, Seton and Monte players made their way to the field at McKenzie, and the game started on schedule.
The stands on the home side of the stadium were not as filled by Seton fans as it was with Camas fans. Seton is a much smaller school.
However, the visitors’ grandstand was just as full with Montesano fans as it was with Gonzaga Prep fans, if not more so. Montesano is about two hours away, and Monte fans travel well.
It set up a great scene for the nightcap, which also was a thrilling game even though the final score may indicate otherwise.
Seton Catholic led Montesano 21-14 with less than eight minutes to play before the Cougars put the game out of reach with two late touchdowns.
The Cougars will play Royal in the 1A state title game at 3 p.m. Friday at Husky Stadium. It marks Seton’s first trip to the state final in school history, and the Cougars are the first Trico League team to reach the 1A state final since Kalama in 1999.
A perfect ending to a near-perfect day, with one more note.
The Columbian predicted that Camas would beat Gonzaga Prep 28-21. The Papermakers won 28-20.
Seton was picked to beat Monte 35-20. The Cougars won 35-14, but Montesano got stopped deep in Seton territory in the closing moments of the game before being turned away.
So, like I said, nearly perfect.
