Camas (4A GSHL) and Seton Catholic (Trico) remain undefeated, and Woodland (2A GSHL) defends its league championship

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Woodland football coach Glen Flanagan answered the phone Friday night and, with elation in his voice, said, “It’s a great day to be a Beaver.”

Of course, it was also a great day to be a Papermaker and a Cougar, too.  

Southwest Washington high school football had three league championships on the line Friday night in the final week of the regular season.

• The Camas Papermakers are the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League champions again after topping Skyview 24-14 at Kiggins Bowl.
• The Woodland Beavers won their second consecutive Class 2A Greater St. Helens League title, handing Ridgefield its first loss of the year in a 14-7 contest.
• And the Seton Catholic Cougars are Trico League champions for the first time in program history after roaring back from an early deficit to beat La Center 29-21.

This was a perfect schedule for those three leagues, featuring perfect-in-league matchups in Week 9.

All six of these teams have qualified for the playoffs. The Week 10 matchups will be announced over the weekend. And, of course, they all hope to advance to the state playoffs in Week 11 and beyond.

But only three could become 2024 league champions.

Let’s start with Camas. The Papermakers, who are also the top-ranked Class 4A team in the state, never trailed, but they had quite a battle with their rivals from Skyview.

Up 10-0 at the half, then it was 10-7 before a Camas touchdown gave the Papermakers a 10-point lead again. Skyview bounced back again with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-14. Camas was clutch again, though, with a late touchdown and the 10-point final margin.

Get this: Camas scored three touchdowns Friday night, with two touchdown runs from Titan Brody and another from Beau Harlan. But all three touchdown drives were saved by fourth-down conversions. 

Quarterback Jake Davidson scrambled on a fourth-and-long to set up the first touchdown.

Davidson found Chase McGee on a pass that McGee willed himself to catch when it appeared Skyview’s defense was going to make the play, setting up the second TD. 

Then Macdonald hauled in a long pass on fourth-and-16, catching the pass just as he was getting drilled by a defender. If that pass was not caught, Skyview would have had the ball, trailing by three, with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter.

“We just know we need to make plays, and we made them,” Davidson said. “Chase is clutch. Jack is clutch. They’re big-time playmakers. I trust them, no matter what, so I get them the ball.”

McGee’s catch was a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. The play was defended so well, but sometimes one must salute the receiver for making a great play.

“I just knew I had to give it my all and catch that ball,” McGee said. “There was a lot of traffic. I saw the ball and I went for it. There was a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill.”

In the fourth quarter, another fourth down. Too far to try a field goal, especially in the rainy weather, but too short to punt. So the Papermakers went for it. A perfect ball from Davidson found Macdonald in between two defenders down the sideline to the 3-yard line.

“Our coaches really push us in practice. We get put under a lot of stress,” Macdonald said. “It always pushes us to get better. We are able to convert when all the pressure’s on us because we’re used to it.”

Camas has now defeated Skyview 14 consecutive meetings, with several close calls. This victory gave the Papermakers their fifth consecutive league championship. 

“I love Camas with all my heart. I’ve lived here my whole life. The coaches are great. I love all the people who surround me here,” Macdonald said. “It’s just a great community.”

With that said, the Papermakers say they are not finished.

“We’ve got a bigger goal,” Davidson said. “It feels great (to win the league). I know that we’re going in the right direction right now, but we’ve got to keep pushing.”

“We want more than a league championship,” McGee said. “We’re going to keep grinding.”

While the offense was clutch, the Camas defense did its job, forcing turnover after turnover, and holding the Storm to 14 points.

“You just have to keep the energy up, and lift each other up,” said Alexander Hroza, who had a sack for the Papermakers. “Being together just makes us a really strong defense.”

Camas coach Adam Mathieson also gave a shout out to his counterpart. This was Skyview coach Steve Kizer’s final regular-season game. He is retiring after 21 years as the Storm’s head coach.

“I have so much respect for Coach Kize, and his staff, and Skyview football,” Mathieson said.

He also appreciated the battle. Camas has not played in a lot of close games lately. In fact, the Papermakers and Storm rolled to victories in the 4A GSHL before this matchup.

“They’re going to be a tough out in the postseason,” Mathieson said of the Storm. “I hope we’re a tough out in the postseason.”

Camas improved to 9-0 overall and finished 3-0 in the 4A GSHL. Skyview is 6-3 and finished 2-1 in league.

From Kiggins Bowl to La Center High School, the Seton Catholic-La Center game was one of the biggest games in the state at any classification. Depending on which poll or computer ranking, these teams are No. 2 and No. 3 in Class 1A. 

A year ago, Seton led by two touchdowns but La Center came back to win.

This year? Seton Catholic returned the favor.

La Center led 14-0 early, but the Cougars scored 29 in a row to win the school’s first league championship in football.

“It feels amazing, but we ain’t done yet,” said senior Joe Callerame. 

La Center had won all nine of the previous meetings between the teams.

“We’ve never beat this team. It’s a meaningful win for me personally, but as a team it’s just another win and we have to continue to build,” Callerame said.

La Center scored on the game’s opening kickoff, then recovered an onside kick and scored again to go up by two touchdowns.

“Flush it. Who cares?” Seton Catholic quarterback Kolton Gesser said of mindset after the early woes for his squad. “We knew we were the better team.”

Callerame had three of Seton Catholic’s touchdowns. 

“We trusted our brothers today, and we made it happen, so we can enjoy this,” he said. 

Seton Catholic improved to 9-0 overall and finished 7-0 in the Trico League. La Center is 8-1 overall, and finished 6-1 in league.

From La Center to nearby Woodland, it was another Woodland-Ridgefield Week 9 showdown for a league title.

For the second year in a row, Woodland jumped out to a solid lead, then held off Ridgefield to claim the 2A GSHL championship.

Glen Flanagan was part of last year’s championship staff as the defensive coordinator, a position he had held for decades. This year, he is the head coach.

“This feels great. I grew up here. I love the town. I love the kids,” Flanagan said.

He also recalled what it was like to start his football head coaching record at 0-2 with losses in non-league games.

“I was pretty hard on myself,” he said. “I don’t think anyone believed in us other than the kids and the coaches.”

Seven weeks and seven wins later, everyone believes.

“To be undefeated league champs, it’s pretty cool,” Flanagan said.

Elijah Andersen scored two first-half touchdowns for the Beavers. 

The Woodland defense was strong all night, but Ridgefield broke free on a long touchdown pass in the closing minutes to pull within a touchdown. Then the Spudders recovered the onside kick.

The Beavers went from being up 14-0 to needing a stop to win the league title.

“Our defense stepped up,” Flanagan said. 

Niel Valerio got an interception to seal the victory for the Beavers.

Woodland improved to 7-2 overall, and finished 7-0 in the 2A GSHL. Ridgefield is 8-1 and 6-1.

Camas, Seton Catholic, and Woodland join Evergreen as the league champions from Southwest Washington. Evergreen clinched the 3A GSHL title last week, and completed the undefeated league season with a win Friday.

Next week’s Week 10 playoff games will determine state berths across Washington. The teams with Clark County connections in the Week 10 playoffs or pigtail:

4A: Camas and Skyview

3A: Evergreen

2A: Woodland, Ridgefield, Washougal, and, in the pigtail contest, Columbia River

1A: Seton Catholic, La Center, King’s Way Christian

Note: Mike Schultz contributed to this report.