Papermakers can earn a home game in the quarterfinals with a win this week
CAMAS — That’s one.
The Camas Papermakers (9-1) are looking for a five-game win streak to defend their Class 4A state championship.
They got one in Week 10 to advance to the state playoffs, shutting out Auburn Riverside 40-0 in a state qualifier.
Road warriors:
The Papermakers are heading to the Spokane area to take on Central Valley in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs. This coming after the team traveled to win at Auburn Riverside.
Now the Papermakers have an opportunity to make more school history this week.
Not including semifinals (which were at neutral sites until last season) and finals, the Camas football team has never won two road playoff games in the same postseason.
(This is usually because the team is so good, it earns a Week 10 home game and a Week 11 home game.)
Still, there is history to be made this season. Camas has to win two road games in a row in order to get a home game. (The Papermakers would host a quarterfinal game if they win this week.)
“Road warriors,” Eagle said. “We have always told our players over the years, if you want to go far in the playoffs, you have to beat someone good on the road. Well, we have to do it more than once. You have to be able to play in an odd place, at an odd time, and deal with the expected distractions in a mature manner.
“Or we turn the gear in on Monday.”
Next:
At Central Valley, 5 p.m. Friday.
Last week, Central Valley (8-1) defeated Hanford on a snowy field.
The forecast for this Friday is P.M. rain showers. High of 46 degrees, a low of 36 degrees. Sounds fun, rain and 40ish!
The Papermakers and Bears have one common opponent. Central Valley lost to Coeur d’Alene 29-27 in its first game of the season. Camas rallied to beat Coeur d’Alene 28-25 in Week 4.
Difficult to really compare the games, though. Coeur d’Alene did not have Colson Yankoff in Week 1. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He did play against Camas.
Predictions:
The folks at Cascadia Preps have made their final four picks in each classification. Two humans plus the ScoreCzar computer picks are on the site. You can look for yourself. Two like Camas to get to the final four. One does not.
This is a great, new site for state-wide football coverage: www.cascadiapreps.com
Impressive start to Week 10:
Inspiring start for one team.
A crushing blow to the other.
The Camas swag was back in a hurry. The Papermakers took out their frustrations from losing the 4A Greater St. Helens League title in Week 9 and punished Auburn Riverside from the beginning of the Week 10 qualifier.
The Camas defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game.
After the punt, the Camas offense started on its own 4-yard line.
Seven plays later, Camas had a 7-0 lead.
Seriously, how about that for a start? The home team did nothing on offense. Got the fortune of a weird bounce on the punt to get Camas backed up deep. And yet it did not matter.
First play for Camas was a swing pass from Kyle Allen to Drake Owen for a quick 19 yards. Papermakers automatically got out of danger.
Later, Owen caught a pass between two defenders for a gain of 29 on third-and-long.
Then there was a perfectly executed screen pass from Allen to Will Schultz for a 28-yard touchdown.
Just like that, the champs were looking like the champs.
Special combination:
Already mentioned two big connections from Allen to Owen on the first drive.
They did it again on the second drive. Fourth-and-8, and Allen-to-Owen picks up 20 yards for the first down, getting Camas in field goal range, too.
The drive stalled, but Andrew Boyle was true on a 33-yard field goal for a quick 10-0 lead.
Allen threw for more than 330 yards in this one, and Owen had 140 yards receiving.
Defense:
A shutout in the playoffs is a worthy accomplishment.
Auburn Riverside had been averaging 44.3 points per game, too.
Not anymore.
The Ravens remained at 399 points for the season.
“Our defense has been playing very well,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said. “Fun to watch. Aggressive. Smart. Big plays.”
In fact, one could make the case the Camas defense just put together its best two-week stretch of the season.
The Papermakers held Union to a 14 points in Week 9. Union was averaging 37 points per game heading into that contest.
