One unforgettable ending for Camas football team

TACOMA — Win or lose, the Camas Papermakers knew they were going to remember the state championship game for the rest of their lives.

But the way they lost?

That just makes them wish they could forget.

Chiawana of Pasco won the Class 4A state championship late Saturday night, shocking everyone in the Tacoma Dome with two touchdowns in the final minute of the game to defeat the previously unbeaten Papermakers 27-26.

A long touchdown pass, a recovery of the onside kick, then a short touchdown pass on the final play of the game gave the Riverhawks a title, and a memory for the ages.

And a really, really harsh memory for the Papermakers.

Moments after the devastating finish, the Papermakers wondered what went wrong.

“They are a great team,” Camas quarterback Reilly Hennessey said of the Chiawana Riverhawks. “But we lost ourselves this football game.

“A whole bunch of little things that we did to ourselves early in the game came back to haunt us.”

He meant it when he said we. It was a team performance to get to 13-0 and advance to the title game, to average 56 points a game in the first 13 contests. And it was a team performance that ended up giving Chiawana the opportunity to seize the moment.

There were negative plays on special teams in every quarter for the Papermakers. There were penalties all night, including drive-killing infractions on offense. Camas walked away with zero points on all four of its red-zone possessions. And there were two failed fourth-down conversions with a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes early in the game. We had gotten away with them all year, but against a good team like that, it’s going to come back and haunt you,” Hennessey said.

As quarterback, he said he could name four of his own miscues that “I’ll have to remember for the rest of my life. I don’t know how you forgive yourself.”

That is the kind of self-reflection that happens after such a night.

Chiawana quarterback Joey Zamora scrambled away from pressure and found Blake Bishop on a 4-yard scoring pass as the clock hit zero. The extra point gave the Riverhawks their first state football championship.

That was just the finishing touch on a wild final 70 or so seconds.

The Chiawana defense stuffed the Papermakers on a fourth-and-short situation, getting the ball to its offense with 1:05 left in the game at the Chiawana 43-yard line.

On the next play, the Riverhawks were in the end zone. Zamora bought time in the pocket and threw a perfect bomb to Dre Dorton, who slipped behind all four Camas deep defenders to score the 57-yard touchdown with 55 seconds left, making it 26-20.

The Riverhawks then recovered the onside kick, moved into the red zone only after catching a tipped ball, got closer on a Camas penalty, and finally, with five ticks on the clock, took the final snap that ended up with the game-winning score.

“It went by so fast,” Hennessey said. “We had this game won with a minute left.”

Up 26-13 late in the third quarter, the Papermakers got to the Chiawana 1-yard line only to lose yards and have to settle for a field goal attempt. It was blocked. In the fourth quarter, the Papermakers lost the ball on downs at the Chiawana 5-yard line. And then there was that failed conversion to set up the Chiawana dramatics.

“First off, they did a nice job. They made some nice plays. They made some big plays,” Camas coach Jon Eagle said. “The coach part of me is going to tell you we made too many errors and missed too many scoring opportunities. We had multiple opportunities to win this game. We were not able to finish it.”

Perhaps it was fitting that a bizarre ending came after a strange contest.

Camas’ high-powered offense was held to 38 yards in the first half and did not score. Michael Johnson scooped up a fumble and returned it 63 yards for a Camas touchdown in the second quarter. The extra point failed, though, leaving the game at 7-6.

Chiawana took a 13-6 lead at the half when Zamora found Clifton Lozana on a 21-yard pass. Lozana had earlier scored a touchdown run, capitalizing on a muffed punt return by the Papermakers in the first quarter.

Still, after being held to those 38 yards, the Papermakers only found themselves trailing by a touchdown.

The Papermakers then owned the third quarter. Hennessey found Nate Beasley on a 74-yard touchdown pass. With another failed kick, though, Chiawana still led by a point.

Camas took its first lead on its next possession, a 33-yard pass on a fourth-down play from Hennessey to Slav Mikhalets, who was getting more playing time after starting wide receiver Zach Eagle injured his shoulder/collarbone in the first quarter. The two-point conversion made it 20-13.

Later in the quarter, Beasley broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run. Again, though, the kick was wide, leaving the score 26-13.

Camas used two kickers throughout the game, missing three PATs and two field goals.

“It was good that we were scoring, but I was uncomfortable the whole time,” Hennessey said. “I knew how good a team they were.”

Johnson intercepted a Chiawana pass, giving Camas yet another scoring opportunity late in the third quarter. That drive concluded with that blocked field goal.

The final 1:05 also erased a stellar showing by the Camas defense. The Riverhawks lost the ball on downs three times in the second half, had two other possessions with no first downs before punting, and two more ended with interceptions.

It was only in desperation mode when the Riverhawks made some magic.

“It hurts that we didn’t finish it,” Zach Eagle said. “But I have no regrets. The guys played their hearts out. It’s life. It’s not always the picture-perfect ending. But I’ve loved every second playing with these guys.”

The Papermakers will not forget how they lost Saturday night.

Fortunately for them, they also will not forget what this season meant to them.

CHIAWANA 27, CAMAS 26

Chiawana 7 6 0 14–27

Camas 0 6 20 0–26

First quarter

Chi — Clifton Lozano 6 run (Matt Winn kick)

Second quarter

Cam — Michael Johnson 63 fumble return (kick failed)

Chi — Lozana 21 pass from Joey Zamora (kick failed)

Third quarter

Cam — Nate Beasley 74 pass from Reilly Hennessey (kick failed)

Cam — Slav Mikhalets 33 pass from Hennessey (Michael DiGenova pass from Hennessey)

Cam — Beasley 44 run (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

Chi — Dre Dorton 53 pass from Zamora (Winn kick)

Chi — Blake Bishop 4 pass from Zamora (Winn kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Chiawana: Lozano 28-162, Alex Webber 9-10, Zamora 6-(minus 14). Camas: Beasley 23-161, Cole Zarcone 2-4, Jason Vailea 2-5, Hennessey 6-(minus 17).

PASSING — Chiawana: Zamora 17-36-2-301. Camas: Hennessey 9-21-0-182.

RECEIVING — Chiawana: Dorton 4-91, Deion Singleton 4-59, Lozana 3-44, Isaiah Richie 2-52, Bishop 2-28, Christian Penny 1-12, Grady Graff 1-14. Camas: Beasley 1-74, Zach Eagle 1-29, Mikhalets 4-45, Jorden Payne 1-10, James Price 1-7, Michael DiGenova 1-17.