Papermakers roll to 4A GSHL win over Heritage for 57th regular-season victory in a row.
CAMAS — Remember last year when Heritage actually led top-ranked Camas at halftime?
Yeah, the Camas Papermakers remembered.
And they made sure it would not happen again.
“It was a big lesson. Week to week you have to take it as a faceless opponent. You have to get better every day,” Camas linebacker Luke Bruno said.
The Papermakers looked a lot better than last year against this opponent, scoring five first-quarter touchdowns Thursday en route to a 63-13 victory over the Timberwolves at Doc Harris Stadium.
The Papermakers easily won their 57th consecutive regular-season game, improving to 7-0 this season to go along with a 3-0 record in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League.
Camas will step out of league play next week to travel to Sunnyside before returning home in Week 9 for a matchup with rival Union in a game that will have playoff implications.
Bruno acknowledged the Papermakers will be thinking a lot about Union even as they prepare for the non-league game.
Either way, it’s all about putting in the hours.
“Success is on rent, and rent is due every day,” Bruno said. “You have to work hard every day, every practice to get as much out of it as you can.”
That is how Camas has not lost a regular-season game since 2011. They don’t take days off, and they don’t overlook opponents.
They put Thursday’s game to rest early.
The Papermakers went seven plays on their first drive and scored on a Will Schultz touchdown run. The next time the offense got the ball, it was a one-play, 2-yard TD drive, with Semisi Schultz scoring. And then the next offensive play was a 67-yard bomb from Kyle Allen to Drake Owen.
Yes, in three consecutive offensive plays from scrimmage, the Papermakers scored to make it 21-0.
By the time the Camas offense returned to the field, it was 35-0.
Owen made a spectacular punt return for a touchdown and Ryan Rushall scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
Owen’s return was not exactly the norm. He thought he was all alone and jumped up to catch the punt. It turned out there was a Heritage defender right there. One of Owen’s legs landed in the defender’s arms.
“Then I saw there were guys coming in ready to take my head off. I said, ‘I have to get out of here.’ I shook him off, I found a little crease, and then it was wide open space,” Owen explained.
Camas added three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Will Schultz got his second TD of the game on a 9-yard run.
Owen caught a 28-yard TD pass from Allen. Once again, Owen bounced off would-be tacklers.
And Carter Kinkead recovered a teammate’s fumble in the end zone to make it 56-0. Camas even scored when it fumbled the ball.
“You couldn’t have anything more go wrong in that first half,” Heritage coach Matt Gracey said. “The worst-case scenario happened.”
Gracey said he was pleased with his team’s bounce-back in the second half, played under running clock.
Heritage (3-4, 0-2) quarterback Michael Taras threw touchdown passes to Neithan Stanley and Kahai Umiamaka to give the Timberwolves something to feel good about heading into next week’s game against Battle Ground.
For Camas, the Papermakers are looking for another win in Week 8 and then a huge win to close out the season in Week 9.
“Focus up, make sure we have some good practices and execute our plays really well in practice,” Owen said. “We’re just trying to make sure we have another good game.”
That philosophy worked just fine – again – for Camas on Thursday.
CAMAS 63, HERITAGE 13
Heritage 0 0 7 6 — 13
Camas 35 21 0 7 — 63
First quarter
C – Will Schultz 2 run (Andrew Boyle kick)
C – Semisi Schultz 2 run (Boyle kick)
C – Drake Owen 67 pass from Kyle Allen (Boyle kick)
C – Owen 60 punt return (Boyle kick)
C – Ryan Rushall 25 fumble return (Boyle kick)
Second quarter
C – W. Schultz 9 run (Boyle kick)
C – Owen 28 pass from Allen (Boyle kick)
C – Carter Kinkead fumble recovery in end zone (Boyle kick)
Third quarter
H – Neithan Stanley 3 pass from Michael Taras (kick good)
Fourth quarter
H – Kahai Umiamaka 18 pass from Taras (run failed)
C – Rylan Thompson 1 run (Bryce Leighton kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Heritage – Anthony Kee 4-12, Taras 17-51, Umiamaka 4-7, Team 1- (minus 14). Camas – W. Schultz 5-28, Allen 1-7, S. Schultz 4-33, Zach Terry 6-24, Gavin Holley 1-7, Boyle 1- (minus 4), Sam Malychewski 2-65, Thompson 2-5.
PASSING: Heritage – Taras 11-26-2-121. Camas – Allen 5-10-0-158, Boyle 1-3-0-6.
RECEIVING: Heritage – Umiamaka 5-40, Stanley 3-36, Robert Meadors 3-45. Camas – Rushall 1-14, Owen 3-133, Luc Sturbelle 1-11, Jackson Preston 1-6.
