Day of debuts for local college football players, coach

The most-talked-about college football game in the Northwest this past weekend had several Clark County connections.

Portland State’s upset of Washington State was a triumphant head-coaching debut for Bruce Barnum, who graduated from Columbia River High School and lives in Salmon Creek.

He scored the school’s first win in 15 games against a Pac-12 opponent and made a strong case for having the “interim” tag removed from his title. He’s on a one-year trial contract during which he’ll try to earn the job full time.

But Clark County was represented on the field too. For Portland State, John Norcross started at linebacker while Brandon Brody-Heim also played at that position. For Washington State, Parker Henry played on defense and special teams. Erik Powell handled kickoffs and placekicking.

Also, Camas grad Reilly Hennessey made his collegiate debut for Eastern Washington against Oregon at Autzen Stadium. His former Camas teammates Drew Clarkson (Oregon State) and James Price (Wyoming) also made their collegiate debuts.

Each week, The Columbian’s college football blog Tailgate Talk will have a rundown of Clark County players currently playing college football. Find it at blogs.columbian.com/tailgate-talk.

Here’s hoping for a happy and healthy season for them all.