Camas beats Skyview, shows why it’s still atop 4A GSHL football

By now, the Camas football team’s regular-season win streak is well-documented.

Friday, it stretched to 56 straight and by no means do the Papermakers take for granted a streak that started by teams before them.

But they take pride in keeping it going.

Especially when it comes against facing quality, tough-nosed opponents like the Skyview Storm in their 4A Greater St. Helens League showdown, a team senior Ryan Rushall respects, and even reminds him a bit of Camas.

That’s why its 38-20 victory over Skyview earns a tip of the cap, too.

“That was insane,” Rushall said. “It shows how good we are as a team.”

It, too, was Rushall’s first full game back since the senior dislocated his left shoulder two weeks ago against Coeur d’Alene. Missing last week’s league opener against Battle Ground built up the competitive fire against the Storm (3-3 overall, 0-1 4A GSHL).

Friday, he was ready.

The two-way starter at receiver and safety had five catches for 90 yards and also a key deflection on a fourth-down play when Skyview tried to keep a drive alive at midfield trailing by 31-20 with 6 minutes, 17 minutes to play in the game. On Camas’ next series, Will Schultz’s 12-yard touchdown run made it an 18-point lead, its largest of the game.

Camas (6-0, 2-0) shutout Skyview in the fourth quarter after leading 28-14 at halftime with four players scoring touchdowns — including a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Trevor Bentley — and got 240 yards passing from quarterback Kyle Allen. Allen finished 21 of 36 for 259 yards and one touchdown.

On the flip side, the Storm spread the wealth around between receiver Cole Grossman (seven catches, 168 yards) and running back Jalynnee McGee (11 rushes, 153 yards) in the first half. Grossman had a game-high 188 yards on eight catches and also had two of the Storm’s five sacks while quarterback Max Rose had 335 yards passing on 24 of 38 completions.

But McGee didn’t play the final 24 minutes. He injured his shoulder in the final minutes of the second quarter and was held out in the second half, forcing coach Steve Kizer to use Angelo Sarchi on offense and defense. Sarchi finished with 51 yards on seven carries. His 17-yard touchdown opened Skyview’s third-quarter scoring.

Kizer praised Sarchi’s play, but what difference McGee would have made had he played a full 48 minutes is anyone’s guess, given his first-half output, Kizer said. His 66-yard touchdown made it a 14-7 game in the first quarter.

But what hurts most about Friday’s loss, Kizer said, is the fact that it’s a league game. Because in the 4A GSHL, there’s only two postseason berths, meaning there’s zero room for error with three games remaining.

“You have to win the next three and do what we did last year,” Kizer said, referring to what Skyview did in 2016, winning six straight after its 31-9 loss to Camas a year ago, then reaching the 4A state semifinals. “That’s the plan.”

Camas 38, Skyview 20

Camas 14 14 3 7—38

Skyview 0 14 6 0—20

First quarter

C — Semisi Schultz 1 run (Boyle good)

C — Trevor Bentley 100 interception return (Boyle kick)

Second quarter

S — Jalynnee McGee 66 run (Wyatt Stallman kick)

C — Kyle Allen 5 run (Boyle kick)

S — Cole Grossman 14 pass from Max Rose (Stallman kick)

C — Drake Owen 3 pass from Allen (Boyle kick)

Third quarter

S — Angelo Sarchi 17 run (kick blocked)

C — Boyle 39 FG

Fourth quarter

C — Will Schultz 12 run (Boyle kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Camas: Kyle Allen 8-10; Drake Owen 1-15; Will Schultz 11-60; Semisi Schultz 7-(minus-2). Skyview: Angelo Sarchi 7-51; Tavis Pinkney 1-3; Jalynnee McGee 11-153; Max Rose 6-18; Austin Holland 2-1.

PASSING — Camas: Kyle Allen 21-36-0-259. Skyview: Max Rose 24-38-2-335.

RECEIVING — Camas: Isaiah Abdul 1-9; Ryan Rushall 5-90; Shane Jamison 3-20; Luc Strubelle 1-8; Drake Owen 10-127; Will Schultz 2-9. Skyview: Angelo Sarchi 3-35; Jovon Sewell 3-39; Cole Grossman 8-188; Wyatt Stallman 2-21; Tavis Pinkney 6-28; Jayden Chatman 2-13, Mason Wheeler 1-10