Papermakers get physical, get past Mount Si in semifinal
VANCOUVER — The Camas Papermakers have made it to December.
Now, they hope they will be remembered forever.
Jacques Badolato-Birdsell rushed for 138 yards and four touchdowns Saturday afternoon, quarterback Blake Asciutto and receiver Jackson Clemmer had another big first half, and the Camas defense made just about everything difficult for Mount Si in a Class 4A state semifinal at McKenzie Stadium.
Add it all up, and it was a 35-14 win for Camas. The Papermakers will take on Bothell at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma at 4 p.m. next Saturday for the state championship.
“It’s so amazing,” linebacker Luke Jamison said. “It’s the greatest feeling ever. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now.”
“We’ve had one goal since we were eighth-graders, since we were freshmen,” added offensive lineman Tristan Souza. “We’ve been working out together, just being one big, ol’ family, and we had one goal.”
Linebacker Jackson Preston went deeper into their history.
“We’ve been talking about this since were in CCYF,” he said of Clark County Youth Football. “Since we were 8 years old. It’s so surreal we are here now and our dreams are finally coming true.”
“A relief,” added lineman Tyler Criddle. “All the work we put in, it’s paid off. It’s all worth it in the end.”
And in the end of this game, it was a combination of that Camas defense and offensive line that secured the trip to the finals.
The Papermakers, up 28-14 early in the fourth quarter, muffed a punt. Mount Si recovered on the Camas 20-yard line. Still plenty of time to play, time for the Wildcats to make a dramatic comeback.
No chance, the Papermakers said.
Preston and Jamison crushed the first play after the turnover for a loss of four.
“We just went to work,” Preston said. “That tackle behind the line really stopped them. They had no more momentum after that.”
Jamison knocked away a pass on second down.
“Our offense had got us that far. We’ve got to get their backs,” Jamison said. “We bucked up and we shut them down.”
After a gain of 11 on third down, the Wildcats went for it on fourth down. Linebacker Logan Silva batted the ball away for an incomplete pass.
Camas ball, and everyone in McKenzie Stadium knew what was coming next. Even the Wildcats. But the Wildcats could not stop it.
“Our motto: Run the damn ball,” Souza said.
Mount Si had no answer for the Camas offensive line and Badolato-Birdsell and fellow back Randy Yaacoub.
“Chop them down like a tree. Get a long drive. Get the clock. Score,” Souza said.
“It kind of feels like, ‘It’s on you,’” Criddle said. “Put the team on your back and go score.”
The Papermakers went 85 yards on 15 plays, taking more than eight minutes off the clock, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run from Badolato-Birdsell.
That made it 35-14 with less than two minutes to play.
Camas had done it, improving to 13-0 and earning a chance to win the second state title in four seasons.
Mount Si scored first in this game — on the first drive of the game, too — but Camas would score the next three touchdowns and never trailed the rest of the way.
Blake Asciutto found Jackson Clemmer on an 80-yard bomb on Camas’ first play from scrimmage after the Wildcats had taken the 7-0 lead. Mount Si’s lead lasted all of 11 game seconds.
The Camas defense figured out the Wildcats rather quickly, got a three-and-out, and the Papermakers would take the lead with three minutes left in the first quarter on the first Badolato-Birdsell touchdown, a 3-yard run.
The Papermakers made it 21-7 on an 8-yard touchdown run from Bodaloto-Birdsell midway through the second quarter.
Mount Si took advantage of a late first-half Camas turnover to make it 21-14. Brayden Holt scored after Clay Millen passed to Aidan Dougherty, who pitched the ball to Holt for a 25-yard scoring play.
The Papermakers opened the second half with an 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Badolato-Birdsell capped it with a 5-yard touchdown run. After passing for 180 of the team’s 206 yards in the first half, Camas ran it nine times in that opening third-quarter drive.
Asciutto finished 17 of 23 for 210 yards for the Papermakers. Clemmer had four catches for 109 yards.
The Camas defense, which allowed 95 yards of offense on the first drive of the game, including 63 through the air, limited Mount Si to 156 yards the rest of the game.
“We learned their pace, we changed it up a little bit, and we went to work,” Preston said.
Note: The Revenge Tour will get another stop for the Camas Papermakers. In an incredible twist of fate, the Papermakers will have a chance to avenge all of their losses last year. Camas went 5-5 in 2018. The team already beat four of those teams this year and now gets a shot at the fifth squad. Bothell beat Camas in the Week 10 state preliminary round game last year, ending Camas’ season.
CAMAS 35, MOUNT SI 14
Mount Si 7 7 0 0 — 14
Camas 14 7 7 7 — 35
First quarter
MS — Cole Norah 2 run (Colby Ramsey kick)
C — Jackson Clemmer 80 pass from Blake Asciutto (Bryce Leighton kick)
C — Jacques Badolato-Birdsell 3 run (Leighton kick)
Second quarter
C — Badolato-Birdsell 8 run (Leighton kick)
MS — Brayden Holt (lateralled from Aidan Dougherty) 25 pass from Clay Millen (Ramsey kick)
Third quarter
C — Badolato-Birdsell 5 run (Leighton kick)
Fourth quarter
C — Badolato-Birdsell 2 run (Leighton kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Mount Si — Norah 14-45, Millen 10-59, Holt 1-(minus 8). Camas — Badolato-Birdsell 28-138, Randy Yaacoub 10-38, Dante Humble 1-(minus17).
PASSING: Mount Si — Millen 19-31-0-161. Camas — Asciutto 17-23-1-210
RECEIVING: Mount Si — Dougherty 7-27, Kevin Corder 3-42, Norah 2-7, Holt 3-53, Andrew Mostofi 4-32. Camas — Clemmer 4-109, Charlie Bump 7-46, Jackson Preston 2-33, Humble 2-15, Yaacoub 1-(minus 1), Badolato-Birdsell 1-8.
