Camas Playmakers

Addison Owen and the football are inseparable.

The 6-foot-2, 206 pound Camas High School senior scored touchdowns on a 57-yard punt return, an 8-yard catch and a 37-yard interception return to help lead the Papermakers to a 66-14 victory over the Hudson’s Bay Eagles Friday, at Doc Harris Stadium.

“It’s exciting,” Owen said. “I feel blessed to have the ability to score three different ways, the teammates to help me, and the coaches to prepare me.

“It’s probably one of the best games I’ve played,” he added. “It’s the first time I can remember scoring a touchdown three different ways. I had to get the team fired up somehow.”

Hudson’s Bay led by six points briefly in the second quarter, before the Papermakers scored 58 straight points. On top of Owen’s three touchdowns, Logan Grindy passed for 271 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. Zack Marshall rushed for 98 yards and scored three touchdowns.

“We kind of got off to a slow start, but we overcame it and played well,” Grindy said. “I think we showed a lot of maturity.”

“Bay came to play. They believed they could beat us,” Owen said. “It was a good lesson. You can’t take a night off against any of these teams.”

Marshall’s second touchdown run of the game gave Camas a 15-14 advantage. When the Papermakers forced another punt, Owen was off to the races.

“I got some great blocks from my teammates on that punt return, and took it all the way back for a touchdown,” he said. “I did some good running, but without all of that blocking, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.”

Grindy then hooked up with Brent Hill on a 36-yard pass into the end zone.

“It’s fun throwing to him because he can jump super high, and is one of the fastest guys on the team,” Grindy said. “He’s got all of the tools to be a super receiver.”

Marshall caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Grindy. In his first season as the featured running back, Marshall leads the Papermakers with 14 touchdowns.

“He’s had an awesome year,” Grindy said. “I knew he was fast, and that he had the potential to do well. People worry about him running so much that it has opened up our passing game.”

Grindy and Owen connected on an 8-yard touchdown pass to open the third quarter. Owen then picked off a pass on defense, and scored for the third time.

“On the second one, Logan threw a great ball. I just had to catch it,” Owen said. “On the third one, I was just in the right place to intercept the pass. Again, I got great blocking. I pretty much walked right in.”

Julian Samuels and Vincente Huber added touchdown runs for the Papermakers. Roldan Alcobendas nailed a 21-yard field goal and seven extra-point kicks.

Grindy has thrown for nine touchdowns and more 1,000 yards this season. He said it would not be possible without his receiving core of Hill, Owen, Jeremy Faulkner, Miguel Salamanca, Kyle Ervin, Zach Anderson and Jonathan Warner.

“It’s nice to have a crew of receivers you can trust,” Grindy said. “Everybody’s got the skill and potential to make something happen. They’re the ones making the catches and scoring the touchdowns. I just have to throw the ball.”

Grindy said he is also protected by linemen David Anderson, Trevor Clarkson, Odin Coe, Keegan Dyehouse, Dylan Harris, Justin Lebowski, Chip Sudbeck and Gary Stokes.

“It’s a lot easier to move the ball when you got a great front line,” Grindy said. “These guys are the heart and soul of this team.”

Head coach Jon Eagle hopes the Camas football players will be ready to go from the opening kick off this Friday against Heritage, at Doc Harris Stadium. The game begins at 7 p.m.

“We’ve got a great thing going here, but if your focus is off by a little bit, you can be down against anybody,” Eagle said. “Don’t be fooled by a team’s record, especially when they’re a 4A. The fine line between teams who are undefeated and 1-5 is very little.”