Papermakers make themselves at home

CAMAS — The Camas Papermakers were not upstaged.

On an evening when the new Doc Harris Stadium was the main attraction, the Papermakers put on a well-rounded show while dispatching Columbia River 42-6 in a Class 3A Greater St. Helens League football game.

The stadium hype?

No problem.

The heavy rain?

Hardly a distraction.

An early score by the visitors?

Right back at ya.

“We’re really proud to get out here on this field and play in front of these fans,” senior lineman Keegan Dyehouse said. “It was just great.”

The Papermakers made their fans proud with some opportunistic football. But the game started in a downpour and it took Camas until the second quarter to pull away.

Camas quarterback Logan Grindy scored the first touchdown on the new field, sneaking in from the 1 with 4:08 left in the first quarter to complete a workmanlike drive of 76 yards on 12 plays.

“It was raining so hard, we were just working on protecting the ball,” said Grindy.

River responded with a five-play 80-yard drive that featured back Remick Kawawaki covering 73 yards on four carries and scoring on a 25-yard run up the middle.

But the visitors’ hopes for spoiling the night for Camas lasted as long as it took Zack Marshall to zip 96 yards with the next kickoff. Marshall was untouched on a beautifully blocked kickoff return for a touchdown.

“That was so exciting,” Dyehouse said. “We’re all so excited for Z. Marsh. He’s been stepping up for us.”

Camas coach Jon Eagle said his offensive line stepped up its performance, allowing his team to take advantage of good field position.

“The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage,” Eagle said. “Obviously, we have some kids who are playmakers. River, to its credit, had kids in position to make plays. We just had some kids who made big plays when we needed them.”

The Papermaker defense was dominant, limiting River to 124 yards of net offense. Take away the 80-yard scoring series, and that’s 44 net yards the rest of the night.

Camas wasn’t perfect. The Papermakers fumbled five times in the first half, losing one of them.

But River had more trouble handing the ball. The Chieftains fumbled eight times in the first half, many of those coming on snaps from the shotgun or punt formations. Camas scored on drives of 27, 39 and 16 yard to extend its lead to 35-6 by halftime.

Miguel Salamanca scored two of those. He pounced on a Marshall fumble in the end zone for a score, and later took a swing pass from Grindy 12 yards to score in the closing seconds of the half.

Kyle Ervin had four catches for 72 yards in the first half. He scored on a seam route from 17 yards, and helped set up Grindy’s opening touchdown with receptions covering 14 and 26 yards.

“We definitely prepared vert well and it showed tonight,” said Grindy, who was 10 of 16 passing for 125 yards and two TDs. “We played well.”

Well enough, in fact, to be as impressive as the new stadium the Camas Papermakers call home.

CAMAS 42, COLUMBIA RIVER 6

Columbia River 6 0 0 0— 6

Camas 13 22 7 0—42

First Quarter

Cam — Logan Grindy 1 run (Dylan Stoller kick)

CR — Remick Kawawaki 25 run (kick blocked)

Cam — Zack Marshall 96 kickoff return (kick failed)

Second Quarter

Cam — Miguel Salamanca recovered fumble in end zone (Ikaika Gunderson pass from Grindy)

Cam — Kyle Ervin 17 pass from Grindy (Stoller kick)

Cam — Salamanca 12 pass from Grindy (Stoller kick)

Third Quarter

Cam — Marshall 47 run (Stoller kick)

Leaders

Rushing — Columbia River: Remick Kawawaki 14-88, Darius Raiford 3-12, Justin Rinta 2-3, Clayton Frank 10-(minus 19), Ben Kraft 1-(minus 18). Camas: Zack Marshall 14-48, Addison Owen 6-24, Kenny Marshall 8-34, Grindy 5-11, Julian Samuels 6-14, Tony Gennaro 2-29.

Passing — Columbia River: Clayton Frank 6-13-0-44; Rinta 2-3-0-16. Camas: Grindy 10-16-0-125, Gennaro 1-2-0-0.

Receiving — Columbia River: Kevin Cotter 3-7, Ian Christianson 1-30, Raiford 1-9, Dennis Henderswon 1-7, Kawawaki 1-2, Zach Puse 1-6. Camas: Miguel Salamanca 2-25, Z. Marshall 3-26, Kyle Ervin 4-72, Dahlen Lappe 1-0, Samuels 1-(minus 4)