CAMAS – Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The Camas Papermakers won a football game by the score of 17-7.
The Papermakers dialed up a familiar formula on Saturday – leaning heavily on their defense to beat Puyallup 17-7 in the 4A state first-round game at Doc Harris Stadium.
Camas (7-4) will play at Kamiakin in Kennewick next weekend in the 4A state quarterfinals.
It was the Papermakers’ third 17-7 win of the season, the same score Camas beat Skyview and Union by earlier this season.
“Our team this year has really relied on our defense,” Camas coach Jack Hathaway said. “It’s a team sport, and they’re fun to watch. They tough, physical. They fly around. They’re extremely well coached. They communicate really well with each other. They don’t make many mistakes, and I think that’s a recipe for good defensive football.”
Puyallup broke one big play – Ryan Cramer’s 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead.
From there, the defense clamped down on giving up big plays
“That’s always the plan,” senior linebacker Jairus Phillips said. “If we can minimize the big plays, I have a lot of confidence in our defense to execute from there out.”
It allowed Camas to get within 7-3 at halftime on an Ethan Ouchi 31-yard field goal.
The Papermakers drove twice to touchdown scores in the third quarter with Taylor Ioane hitting Brock Thornburg on a 27-yard touchdown pass and later a 35-yard TD pass to Mark Thorkelson.
“We were fortunate to get a few big plays,” Hathaway said. “In games like this, that’s what it takes. We’ve got to make some big plays, and I felt our quarterback really had a good game. He really made good decisions all game long.”
Jon Schultz, Camas running back: Schultz was the workhorse again, rushing the ball 32 times for 88 yards and eating up valuable clock. He also caught two passes for 40 yards to extend drives.
Brock Thornburg, Camas tight end/defensive line: Besides his touchdown catch, he also had two big sacks on defense.
When it looked like Camas’ second drive of the third quarter might stall in Puyallup territory after back-to-back runs by Schultz for no gain, Ioane found Thornburg along the sideline. Thornburg caught the pass, shook a tackler and raced into the end zone to give Camas a 10-7 lead.
On Puyallup’s ensuing possession, the Vikings attempted to go for it on fourth-and-2 from its own 47. But the Papermakers stopped Ziere Ford to a 1-yard gain and gave the ball back to the offense. Camas extended its lead to 17-7 on Ioane’s TD pass to Thorkelson.
Hathaway was asked if he worries about giving the ball too much to Schultz.
“Nah. Never. That guy’s a beast. He wants the ball. He’s one of those rhythm running backs – the more he gets it, the more he sees it and feels it. We like to feed him as much as we can,” Hathaway said.
CAMAS 17, PUYALLUP 7
Puyallup 0 7 0 0—7
Camas 0 3 14 0—17
Second quarter
P — Ryan Cramer 41 run (Luke Faccone kick)
C — Ethan Ouchi 31 FG
Third quarter
C — Brock Thornburg 27 pass from Taylor Ioane (Ouchi kick)
C — Mark Thorkelson 35 pass from Ioane (Ouchi kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Puyallup: Ziere Ford 10-25, Cramer 13-81, Maurice Woodring 2-17, Jacob Velasco 1-9, Micah Balzarini 5-(-18). Camas: Jon Schultz 32-85, Ioane 6-(-5), Zach Blair 2-1, team 2-(-8).
PASSING — Puyallup: Balzarini 13-26-1-132. Camas: Ioane 12-19-0-169.
RECEIVING — Puyallup: Cramer 1-3, Dane Parker 4-23, Jordan Dwyer 4-52, Malachi Durant 3-45, Woodring 1-9. Camas: Nathan Criddle 3-17, Blair 2-23, Chase Howington 2-16, Thorkelson 2-46, Schultz 2-40, Thornburg 1-27.
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