Day After Report: Week 11

CAMAS 48, KENNEDY CATHOLIC 14
Tony Gennaro threw five touchdown passes — for the second week in a row — and the Camas defense was predictably awesome.

DEEEEEEEE-fence:
It’s time to give some love to the Camas defense.
With the gaudy numbers the Papermakers offense is churning out with regularity, the role of the defense has perhaps been slighted in Camas’ run to the Class 3A football quarterfinals.
But when it most mattered the Camas D was Dominating — emphasis on the capital D — during Friday’s runaway win over Kennedy Catholic.
In the first quarter, the Papermakers limited the Lancers to 27 yards and one first down.
It all started up front, where the enthusiasm of defensive linemen Kamari Brown, Jason Vailea and John Ashford lifted the entire unit.
“Those guys were fired up and got the whole defense fired up,” said Zack Marshall, who plays cornerback when not running through other team’s defenses.
The measure of the impact of Camas defense isn’t only in net yardage, which against Kennedy Catholic was 251 yards — all but 27 of those after the game was essentially decided.
A better measure? How about this suggestion from Camas coach Jon Eagle: The Papermakers have started more than 50 drives this season on the opponent’s side of midfield.
“That’s because our defense gives us the ball in a good spot,” Eagle said.
Against Kennedy, Camas started four drives inside Lancer territory, and two others just short of the 50. That included a fumble recovery by linebacker Scott Feathers that set up the game’s last touchdown.
Give some credit, too, to kicker Roldan Alcobendas, who routinely puts kickoffs into the end zone. 

Air Gennaro:
Eagle said his quarterback, senior Tony Gennaro, doesn’t impress observers of Camas practices.
“Monday through Thursday, people who come to our practices will tell you that is not the prettiest ball flying around out there,” the coach said with a smile.
Gennaro has been nearly perfecto in the last two weeks, and has 10 touchdown passes to show for it. Never mind that many of them are short screens and slants that receivers take to the end zone. Gennaro’s poise and understanding of where to put the football have been fun to watch.

A few more numbers to think about:
Camas outgained Kennedy 188-27 in the first quarter. The Papermakers had 10 first downs in the first quarter. Looks like this was against an overmatched opponent, right? Perhaps, but the Papermakers don’t think they played a bad team.
“Don’t measure (Kennedy) off the scoreboard,” Gennaro said. “That is a really good football team. We just played a great game tonight. We played lights-out perfect tonight almost.”

LAKES 28, MOUNTAIN VIEW 0
Looks like a blowout. Look again.

Thunder impress, even in defeat:
Mountain View’s return to the state football playoffs did not last long, but there were a lot of good things the Thunder accomplished Friday night.
Consider:
Lakes had scored 56 or more points in five consecutive games. Lakes got 28 against Mountain View, and one of those touchdowns was an easy one after a Mountain View turnover. The Mountain View defense was tough. Mountain View’s defensive backs were solid, too. Carl Click, who called the game for carlclick.com naturally, said he could not recall a completed long pass all night.
Lakes likely has six Division I recruits that we can point out right now. Zach Banner could be in the NFL in three years. Not to mention the future Division I recruits who are waiting for this year’s seniors to graduate. 
And then there is this gem: Mountain View finished the season 8-3. The three losses were to Camas, Union, and Lakes. All three of those teams are still playing. 

Now to the 4As. …

SKYVIEW 34, KENTWOOD 7
Give the nod to the Skyview defense in this victory.

Wait for it, wait for it, wait …. There it is:
The Skyview Storm were crushing Kentwood. Only it didn’t look that way on the scoreboard. Skyview was rolling in the yardage, seemingly in control. But it was only 14-7 at the half. It was 21-7 going into the fourth. Kentwood blocked a field goal and had the ball with a little momentum. And then, and then, and then … Forrest Russell happened.
A pick-six, a 47-yard interception return to pretty much end the game. 
Linebacker Jabari Marshall said that was the plan all week, to force Kentwood to pass the ball. Stop the run and make ’em pass. With Skyview’s talent in the secondary, the Storm knew they would eventually make a big play.

In the clutch:
Good players perform well during the regular season. Great players perform well in the postseason.
Apparently, Skyview’s Kieran McDonagh wants to be counted among the latter.
In both of Skyview’s playoff wins — 47-17 over Issaquah and 34-7 over Kentwood — the Storm’s senior quarterback has thrown for more than 300 yards.
In total, he has completed 40 of 55 passes for 657 yards and seven TDs.
“We have some remarkable receivers on this team, and Kieran does a good job of getting us the ball,” receiver Forrest Russell said.
Russell caught five passes for 91 yards against Kentwood. Reiley Henderson had seven catches for 117 yards, and four other receivers had catches.

Double ouch:
McDonagh had a 50-yard run called back by a penalty. To make matters worse, McDonagh also hurt his shoulder when he was tackled on that play.
He left the game for a series before returning.
McDonagh said the injury would not prevent him from playing in the quarterfinals against Bellarmine Prep.

Yo 11!
Friday was 11-11-11 so who better to get the biggest hit of the game for the Skyview defense than No. 11 David Garlington.
When Kentwood’s Jonathan Ohashi went into the flat to receive a pass, Garlington hit Ohashi from behind, separating the receiver from the ball  — and hit mouthpiece.
The Columbian’s Troy Wayrynen has a great photo of Garlington’s hit. 

Strange start:
Not that Kentlake came close to doing anything on offense, but the Union offense also looked “off” to begin the game.
The Titans went three-and-out on its first two possessions, but it’s even worse than that. On the first drive, the Titans were penalized three times for 25 yards, including two false start penalties. On the next drive, the Titans were called for delay of game and also got sacked for a loss of 11. 
At that time, Kentlake probably figured it was going to be a defensive battle, a low-scoring game that any team could have won.

Strong second quarter:
Gabe Rego got the first of his two interceptions with 1:15 left in the first quarter. That stopped Kentlake’s only real threat to score in the first half. It also was the start of total Union domination of the line of scrimmage.
Union went on an 18-play drive that covered 78 yards to the Kentlake 4-yard line. The Titans were slowed in the red zone, but Trent Cowan made a 21-yard field goal on the 19th play. That drive took 8 minutes, 21 seconds off the game clock. 
Kentlake’s offense would return but only briefly. The Union defense forced a three-and-out/punt. The Titans then scored their first touchdown, a 48-yard run from Cowan on a fake punt, with 26 seconds left in the half.
Kentlake ran one play, and was sacked, before the half.
That means Kentlake had four offensive plays in the second quarter, for a total of three yards.

Two is better than one:
Brandon Brody-Heim rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown. Rego rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown.
The team rushed for 339 yards — the second consecutive playoff game that the Titans have rushed for more than 300 yards.

Quoteworthy:
“I was late getting over there, but I got there.” — Gabe Rego on his first interception, ending a Kentlake scoring threat in the first quarter. The ball seemed to hang in the air forever as it headed toward what looked to be an open receiver. Rego, though, timed it perfectly, even if he would have preferred to be there sooner.

“Once he took the bait, I took it to the house.” — Gabe Rego, who was hoping the quarterback would throw to his man early in the fourth quarter. Rego got the interception and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown.

“A lot of people say the GSHL is no good. We wanted to prove we could play with anyone in the state and we’re one of the best teams in the state. Show pride for our school. Show pride for our league.” — Phil Westphal, offensive lineman.

…

And to the 1A we go …

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 27, LA CENTER 6
The Cougars get the best of the Wildcats in a defensive battle.

27 points? That’s a defensive battle?
In this case, yes. 
Cascade Christian’s defense was so strong, it gave the offense short fields to work with for much of the game. Yet, La Center barely budged. The Cougars got three fourth-quarter touchdowns, one on a defensive touchdown and the other two on drives of 1 and 13 yards. 
La Center’s defense, in fact, gave up just 168 yards in the game. La Center’s offense gained 232 yards.
Cascade Christian was dominant, too. La Center did not come close to scoring until the final drive of the night.

Champs:
Back in Week 3, La Center gave up 50 points in its Trico League opener. 50!
Since then, the Wildcats reeled off six league wins in a row to tie for the championship. Then the Wildcats won the Week 10 district playoff to advance to state. That’s quite the turnaround from Week 3.

…

That’s it for this week. Thanks to Paul Danzer, Carl Click, and Tim Martinez, who contributed to this report. We assume Carl Click will be broadcasting Union’s road game in the quarterfinals. Unless, of course, KATU asks him to anchor 24 hours of Occupy Hazel Dell coverage.