State playoff first-round football preview: Camas vs. Kennedy Catholic
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday at Doc Harris Stadum, Camas (3A state playoff). Radio: None.
Last meeting: Kennedy won 35-23 in 3A state preliminary round in Burien on Nov. 8, 2008.
At stake: Berth in state quarterfinals against Mercer Island/Meadowdale winner
KENNEDY CATHOLIC (8-1)
Last week: beat Lincoln 52-14 in 3A state preliminary game.
Players to watch: QB Jason Thompson (48-91-779 passing, 10 TDs); RB Orion Prescott.
Notes: The Lancers placed first in the 3A/2A Seamount League with 6-0 league mark. … QB Thompson was highly recruited as a defensive back coming into season and made oral commitment to Washington. Now, he is garner looks as a QB from Arizona State and Hawaii among others. … Thompson’s passing numbers have been held down by rarely playing in the second half of so many blowouts this for Kennedy. … The Lancers have scored at least 41 points in its last six games. … Their closest win this season was a 41-28 win over Lindbergh. … Their lone loss was to Class 2A Archbishop Murphy 41-14 in Week 2.
CAMAS (9-1)
Last week: beat Bainbridge 58-0 in 3A state preliminary game.
Players to watch: QB Tony Gennaro (124-187-1845 passing, 22 TDs); RB Zack Marshall (136-1017 rushing, 14 TDs); WR Jonathan Warner 38-528 receiving, 8 TDs); WR Zach Eagle (26-492 receiving, 5 TDs).
Notes: The last five Camas games have ended with a running clock. Camas has won by an average score of 58-2. … Gennaro had a huge game last week, passing for 319 yards and 5 TDs. … Gennaro had almost as many TD passes as incompletions (6). … Eight different Papermakers caught passes. … Marshall rushed for 103 yards. … Key player for the Papermakers as they play tighter games could be K Roldan Alcobendas.
Bottom line: This is a matchup of teams that have played a lot of lopsided games this season. How each team responds in the fourth quarter under pressure will be the key.
What the Score Czar says: Scoreczar.com is a website run by Vancouver’s Scott Odiorne that uses computer ranking based points scored, points allowed, strength of schedule and other factors. The Score Czar’s predicted score is Camas 30, Kennedy 24. Both teams’ scoring output this season suggests points will be put on the board. But The Columbian thinks defense decides this one. And that plays into Camas’ hand. We’ll play the “under” on ScoreCzar’s 54 total points.
Columbian’s pick: Camas.
Fans’ pick: Camas (100 percent)
