Ruggiero runs Camas to 22-7 victory over Battle Ground

BATTLE GROUND — Even with 210 yards worth of penalties, the Camas Papermakers still found a way to win the 4A Greater St. Helens League football opener. Quarterback Tyson Ruggiero rushed 17 times for 146 yards and a touchdown and threw for 170 yards and TD as Camas held off the Battle Ground Tigers 22-7 on Friday at District Stadium.

Flags were flying all game from the very first play from scrimmage. In all, 27 penalties were assessed for 260 yards with Camas receiving the bulk of the yellow laundry.

“We were shooting ourselves in the foot with all the penalties,” Ruggiero said. “We just had to move on to the next play. When we did that, we started coming together as a team and started to figure out things more.”

And that made for a much closer result than the final score indicated as the Tigers (3-4, 0-1) trailed 8-7 at halftime and had the ball in the final 7 minutes of the game down by one score at 15-7.

The Tigers had kept Camas out of the end zone with a goal-line stand, but their ensuing drive ended at their own 32-yard line with a fourth-down incompletion.

Camas (5-2, 1-0) put the game away by scoring five plays later on Ruggiero’s 6-yard run.

“We gave it a good push,” Tigers senior quarterback Ethan Adams said. “That’s the closest it’s been since I’ve been here and since before I can remember, too.

“I’m just proud of my team and we can carry this into next week vs. Skyview.”

A big part of what had Camas on its heels came from Battle Ground’s defensive line and the pressure it put on Ruggiero and the Papermakers’ rushing game. Aside from Ruggiero’s runs, Camas had 26 other carries for 108 yards.

“Shout out to their D-linemen,” Ruggiero said. “It was an insane amount of pressure. They brought three or four guys and that was impressive.”

Each quarter saw just one touchdown scored, starting in the first with Ruggiero finding Thor Brady for a 47-yard TD pass play. The Papermakers went for 2 on the point-after, successfully executing it with a flip pass from Luke Parbon, who took the direct snap and was running forward, to a wide open Owen Doyle.

Battle Ground’s TD came on the first play of the second quarter. It was set up nicely in the first quarter when Adams scrambled on fourth-and-13, launching a pass to Trent Richardson who came down with the ball at the 7-yard line for a 43-yard gain.

“That probably got us going,” Adams said of Richardson’s catch. “We fed off that the rest of the game.”

On third-and-goal to start the second quarter, Tony Sahli got in from 2-yards out to make it 8-7. It would stay that way until 3:58 to play in the third quarter.

Camas was able to drive 85 yards on 11 plays, overcoming two flags for minus-25 yards, and pushed the lead to 15-7 on an 11-yard pass play from Charlie Barr to Tyler Hansen.

Richardson had four catches for 90 yards, but was injured on his last catch of 17 yards and had to helped off the field.

Despite losing that offensive weapon, Battle Ground made Camas earn the win.

“All of us were super frustrated in the locker room (at halftime),” Ruggiero said. “When we came out for the second half, we did what we were supposed to do from what practice taught us.”