On the sidelines: One win away from greatness

The Camas High School football team is one win away from 4A Greater St. Helens League dominance.

The Papermakers returned to McKenzie Stadium Friday, and finished off Heritage 55-21. A week ago at the same place, they shut out Union 22-0.

Colton Dowd and John Norcross started the trend Friday night. Dowd intercepted a Heritage pass on the third play of the game, and then Norcross caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Reilly Hennessey.

Jason Vailea scooped up a fumbled football by the Timberwolves on their next drive. Zach Eagle made 20 and 10-yard catches, and then Nate Beasley crossed the goal line on a 2-yard run for a touchdown.

Nick Gadbaw and Vince Huber slammed the Heritage quarterback on the next series, which forced Heritage to punt again. Hennessey hooked up with Dylan White and Jorden Payne on passes for first downs. Beasley then added a 21-yard run up the middle for his second touchdown.

The Timberwolves attempted a pass off a fake punt play, but Michael Digenova intercepted it for the Papermakers. Hennessey then paired an 8-yard run with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Connor Maloney.

Camas got the ball back quickly. Eagle snagged a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hennessey. Eagle then had a huge interception return, where is zig-zagged across the field and was brought down at the 3-yard line. Beasley threw in a big block on the next play, and Eagle took it in for a touchdown.

Eagle returned a punt to the Heritage 22-yard line. Payne grabbed a first down catch, and then Jack Beall made an 11-yard touchdown catch over his shoulder.

Camas led 48-0 at halftime. Heritage had yet to cross the 50-yard line, and had turned the ball over four times. Hennessey had thrown touchdown passes to four different receivers.

The Papermakers scored one more time on the opening drive in the third quarter. Huber turned a fourth-down-and-seven yards to go situation into a 33-yard touchdown run.

Camas clinched the No. 1 seed for the playoffs Friday. One more win, and the Papermakers will go 9-0 in their first year in the largest league in Southwest Washington.

The Homecoming parade will march from downtown Camas up to Doc Harris Stadium Friday, followed by the opening kickoff at 7 p.m.

Read the reactions of the Camas football players in Tuesday’s print edition of the Post-Record.

See you on the sidelines.