Day After Report: Week 5 (All in one big part)
The things we do to get the news out to the rest of the world. Well, at least our little part of the world.
We appreciate all of our readers. In print. Online. Twitter. Even Facebook. We understand there are now a lot of places for you to find the scores. We’re doing our best to make it happen on as many platforms as possible.
We also are amazed at how many different media outlets are doing the same. High school football is big everywhere. For the state of Washington, though, the biggest game this week was in Camas.
Play On Sports, along with the WIAA Network, live-streamed the game. There was a reporter giving live updates on a Portland radio station. Of course, I was there, along with Columbian photographer Zachary Kaufman. I was keeping play-by-play, keeping a live stat sheet, and giving updates on Twitter as fast as I could.
The Columbian’s live chat on Friday nights is a huge success, as well. Fans at one game can use their smart phones to see all the scores around the county. I call it a red zone channel for Southwest Washington high school football. No video, but if you were at McKenzie Stadium on Friday night, you could imagine what it looked like when John Norcross ran for 90-yard touchdown run in Camas.
I like seeing all the scores as they happen, too. Even if I’m busy with my game, I want to know what’s happening elsewhere. Battle Ground is 5-0. That’s a story. Union is 4-1 and is getting little coverage around the state because Skyview and Camas are in the league. That’s something to keep an eye on as the season progresses. (Oh, and Battle Ground and Union play each other in Week 6. Not sure any of us thought that was going to be a big game going into the season. But it is now.)
Oh, another thing I do every Friday is give an update of Southwest Washington football to listeners in Seattle. KJR sports radio calls me every week to give a summary of our game of the week and get other scores, as well. It was fun, last year, telling all the Seattle area fans just how good Skyview and Camas were, and Union, too. Then all three teams had fine showings in the playoffs. Sky-who? Skyview. What’s a Papermaker? Oh, that’s the team that just beat your team. The Titans are still good? Yep.
So this week, after writing my game story for The Columbian, I was walking out the back way of Doc Harris Stadium, in the dark, with my hands-free device on my phone, waiting for the call from KJR. This was a game that needed to be recapped to the rest of Washington. This was two top-5 ranked teams in the state. And it was about that time that the station always calls me.
As I got closer to my car, I noticed the gate looked closed. Uh-oh. Not only closed. But it was locked. I could have walked all the way back to the stadium and then to the front gate and then walked all the way around the soccer practice fields to get to my car. Or, I could have done the manly thing and climbed the fence. Oh yeah, I was real manly. I hung my computer over the fence post, carefully, of course. And I did my best Spider-Man impression.
Getting to the top was easy. Getting down, well, I’m just glad there was no one there with video. I’d have been a YouTube sensation. It was dark. I misjudged the jump. Landed a little earlier than I anticipated and fell on my butt and then my head. Trust me, no real damage was done to either the butt or the head. Just a fun bruise to the ego.
Got to my car and I noticed, hey, no one has called me yet. So I called my contact at the station. He apologized, the show was running over, and there would not be time to get to me. I then reminded him that I was at the Camas-Skyview game. He immediately remembered how big of a game that was, called the producer, and made it happen. About 45 seconds later, I was on the air, bruised butt and bumped head, but enjoying every moment of it.
I love high school football.
Now to the games …
CAMAS 42, SKYVIEW 17
A close game at the half, Camas ruled the second half to remain unbeaten this season.
Twitter jinx: My bad. I figured I was going to jinx one of the teams. Sorry Skyview. This one’s on me.
At halftime, I sent out this tweet: I’d like to take this time to thank Skyview and Camas for playing a close game. (At least so far.) I’m tired of covering blowouts.
Whoops. At least I wrote so far. Anyway, even if Camas did win by 25 points, this did not feel like a blowout. At least not until the fourth quarter. Great crowd. Great atmosphere. And great football for a half by both teams. Great football by one team for the whole game.
The touchdown vulture: A lot of NFL teams have touchdown vultures. As a Raider fan the past couple years, I got used to watching Darren McFadden get the ball close to the end zone, only to watch Michael Bush get the short touchdown run. (Bush is no longer with the Raiders, but he is just an example of a touchdown vulture.)
Nate Beasley rushed 24 times for 231 yards Friday night. But did not score. Norcross came in on two of the long drives to score short touchdown runs. Vulture.
Not that Beasley minds.
“It doesn’t matter,” Beasley said. “We got the ball in the end zone.”
Beasley certainly did his job.
He had two carries for 62 yards on Camas’ four-play, 74-yard drive in the second quarter. Norcross scored from 4 yards out for a 14-10 lead.
And in the third quarter, Beasley had six carries for 40 yards on a nine-play, 53-yard drive that Norcross capped on a 2-yard run.
The Night of Norcross: John Norcross was not a TD vulture on three of his five scores. The first touchdown came a play after he intercepted a Skyview pass while playing his linebacker position. That set up the offense at the 5-yard line, and he crashed into the end zone from there.
In the fourth quarter, he made a sweet adjustment to a pass in the end zone from Reilly Hennessey, cut off the Skyview defensive back, and hauled in the reception for a 35-17 lead.
“It’s awesome. It’s one of the greatest feelings in the world,” Norcross said after the game. “With the community out here and to have a game like that, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
He wasn’t done, though.
Camas went with the Wildcat, power lineup from its own 2-yard line after a Zach Eagle interception. The intent was to try to get some room, maybe pick up a first down or two, protect the lead. On the third-down play, Norcross went right up the middle and just kept running for a 90-yard touchdown.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t get caught from behind.’ I just kept these legs driving,” Norcross said. “I blocked my mind telling me to slow down, and I pushed it all the way through.”
His linemen were impressed, too. Drew Clarkson said the Papermakers weren’t trying to do anything special. Just wanted to pick up the first down on third-and-2 from the 10-yard line.
“All you could see was John running down the field,” Clarkson said. “I don’t know what happened, but I was excited.”
Second-half defense: The Papermakers rushed for 424 yards Friday night, so clearly the offense got the most attention. The defense, too, needs a shout-out for its second half. Skyview scored 17 points and gained 258 yards in the first half. The Storm were shut out in the second half and gained 137 yards. And most of those yards came when the game was out of reach.
Here are Skyview’s second-half possessions:
Storm start at own 20-yard line, go three-and-out with no yards. Punt.
Storm start at own 20-yard line, go three-and-out and gain four yards. Punt.
Storm start at own 26-yard line, gain one first down, finish with five plays for 19 yards. Punt.
(Camas would score on its ensuing possession to take a 35-17 lead at this point.)
Storm start at own 20-yard line, go three-and-out, gain eight yards. Punt.
Storm start at own 19-yard line, earn three first downs and gain 48 yards before throwing an interception.
(Camas would score to make it 42-17.)
Storm start on own 20-yard line, earn four first downs and gain 58 yards before the game ends.
That adds up to 137 yards, with 106 coming after Camas led 35-17 in the fourth quarter.
Fun second quarter: The second quarter is what fans from both teams expected to see. Lots of big plays from both teams. There were three lead changes in the period.
Skyview’s Carter Johnson kicked a 26-yard field goal with 11:35 left in the half for a 10-7 lead. It took Camas 80 seconds to take the lead on a John Norcross touchdown run.
The Storm would then go 80 yards on 12 plays, scoring on a fourth-down play. Jordan Berni threw a perfect pass to Forrest Russell for the 3-yard TD to make it 17-14. Camas needed 88 seconds to return the favor. Vinente Huber scored on a 19-yard touchdown run and a 21-17 advantage.
Skyview stats: Berni, by the way, finished 21 of 30 for 221 yards and two touchdowns for the Storm. Russell caught nine passes for 101 yards and two scores. Berni also finished with 61 yards rushing. Jabari Marshall led the Storm with 71 yards.
Streakin: This is Camas’ 13th consecutive league win. The Papermakers went 6-0 in each of the past two seasons as members of the Class 3A GSHL. The last league loss for Camas came in the final regular-season game of the 2009 season.
Skyview saw its 15-game league winning streak come to an end. The Storm went 4-0 the past two seasons, 5-0 in 2009, and 4-1 in 2008, winning the last two league games of that season.
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BATTLE GROUND 40, EVERGREEN 6
UNION 56, HERITAGE 19
Battle Ground and Union show off their passing skills with wins at McKenzie Stadium.
Pass-happy McKenzie: Fans who stayed for both games at McKenzie Stadium saw 1,006 yards of passing and 11 touchdown passes.
Maybe the Heritage defense should have put all of their defensive backs on Union’s Trent Cowan. The Titans’ senior wide receiver was the only target for quarterback Nolan Henry in the first half, catching all nine of Henry’s completions for 224 yards. Cowan also caught Henry’s first pass of the second half, a 29-yard completion.
A 16-yard swing pass to Leon Siofele with 8:17 left in the third quarter was the first catch by a Titan other than Cowan.
Battle Ground’s Kevin Haynes came into the game leading the region in rushing with 891 yards through four games. Friday, he carried three times for 33 yards in the first quarter against Evergreen, then didn’t touch the ball again. Did not need to because the Battle Ground passing game was just too good.
(Plus, Battle Ground coach Larry Peck said once the score got out of hand, he wanted to make sure Haynes was rested for the rest of the league season. “Haynes will be 100 percent next week,” Peck said.)
Ian Humphrey threw for 372 yards and six touchdowns. Trevor Ingram caught six passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns. Jake Sachen had six catches for 168 yards and a touchdown.
Earlier this season, Kevin Haynes told me (Paul Valencia) that even though he was getting most of the yards in the early going, he knew his team could pass, too. The Tigers proved that Friday night.
Union’s defense comes up big: The Union defense was the difference in a clash of two explosive passing attacks. Interceptions by Bryce Evans and Matt reeves provided a two-touchdown swing in the first half.
No-punt offense: The Titans did not need a punter Friday night. Aside from a missed field goal at the end of the first half, and turning the ball over on downs late in the game with reserves on the field, the Titans produced points on every possession.
BG’s defense held strong, too: Battle Ground coach Larry Peck said the team put in a new defensive scheme to face Evergreen’s Wing-T. It worked just fine, limiting Evergreen to 55 yards rushing.
“Evergreen had made a lot of improvements, and I expected a slugout,” Peck said. “The scheme was a big challenge for us to stop a pretty good team.”
Heritage, Evergreen highlights: Heritage’s Loren Standiford connected for three more touchdown passes, giving him 19 in five weeks. He spread the love around, too. Victor Duran, Tim Hergert, and E’Lon Mack caught the TD passes for the Timberwolves.
Greg Allen caught a 9-yard TD pass from Kobey Eaton in the fourth quarter, giving Evergreen some momentum going into next week.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW 49, PRAIRIE 21
The Thunder open league play with a dominating second half.
Guys up front: The stars of the game were the guys up front. Linemen Ryan Tonder, Hunter Davies, Bennett Muasau, Jeff Longust, Kade Burns along with tight ends Phillip Rudolph and Shane McCauley gave the Mountain View running backs enough room to rush for 483 yards Friday night. More impressive, 384 of the yards came in the second half.
So far so good: After a 14-14 tie following an evenly played first half, the Thunder rushed for 384 yards in the final two periods. Austin Mace, a 5-foot-6 junior, had 199 of those, with his 13 carries breaking down this way: 7, 42, 20, 0, 44, 2, 3, 3, 4, 20, 49, 5, 0.
In the third quarter, he rushed seven times for 118 yards.
Mace finished with 234 yards on 18 carries and was thankful after the game that he has been healthy this season.
“Do you have any wood to knock on?” he asked. “Because I’ve been getting hurt the past couple years.”
He knew it all along: Carl Falls finished with 166 yards on 12 carries. In the final minute, Mountain View went for it on a fourth-and-3 from their own 41, and Falls turned it into a 59-yard TD.
“We played like we know we can,” he said. “We knew we could do it.”
Breaking down the numbers: First-half offensive yards: Prairie 58 rushing, 88 passing, 146 total; Mountain View 99 rushing, 79 passing, 178 total. Second-half offense: Prairie 41 rushing, 106 passing, 147 total; Mountain View 384 rushing, 0 passing, 384 total.
Ouch: Prairie coach Terry Hyde lamented his team’s mistakes. That started on the Falcons’ opening possession, which ended on a play that went for a loss of 13 yards and a fumble that put Mountain View at the Prairie 18-yard line.
The play was designed as a pass out in the flat behind the line of scrimmage, but it was well-defended and the ball was thrown backward (which makes it a lateral) and over the receiver’s head.
Brad Hansen recovered for the Thunder, and Mountain View used a three-play drive to take a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game.
The next time Mountain View had the ball, the Thunder were aided by a personal-foul penalty and a roughing-the-passer penalty against the Falcons. That drive ended with a 5-yard scoring run by Russel Culverwell.
Prairie also had a snap that sailed well over the punter’s head. He chased down the ball and managed to get off a kick that resulted in a 3-yard punt.
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COLUMBIA RIVER 62, FORT VANCOUVER 12
Close for a little bit, then all Chieftains.
He’s back: Remick Kawawaki had one of his finest performances of the season with 151 yards and three rushing touchdowns, plus he had a pick-six to open the scoring, returning an interception 45 yards for a touchdown.
Kawawaki’s two touchdown runs in the second quarter, as well as a TD run from Terrell Bolton, gave the Chieftains a 35-12 lead at the half.
Improvement: We all know Fort is struggling. But the coaches have been saying that each week, they see progress. This week, they were within a point in the second quarter, trailing 13-12. Marquis Taylor had an interception return for a score, and Taylor VanHeck scored on a touchdown pass from Jordan Suell.
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KELSO 40, HUDSON’S BAY 0
The Hilanders improved to 5-0 this season.
Eagle troubles: The Eagles were shut out for the third time this season. Bay has scored two touchdowns in five weeks.
Eagle highlights: Devon Casey rushed for 80 yards on 12 carries. Joseph Bomers had an interception and made several big tackles for the Bay defense.
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RIDGEFIELD 42, HOCKINSON 18
The Spudders are a 2A team again and don’t seem to intimidated at all in convincing win over the defending league champion.
Running woes for Hawks: Hockinson had success moving the ball between the 20s against Ridgefield. But the Hawks couldn’t get their running game going.
The Spudders were willing to give up short and intermediate passing routes most of the night, but when Hockinson reached the red zone, the Ridgefield defenders weren’t giving up space to the receivers.
The Hawks had drives stall out at the Spudders 18-, 15-, and 25-yard lines.
“Our defensive philosophy coming in was ‘Bend but don’t break,'” said Ridgefield senior safety Clayton Farr. “They got a lot of yards underneath, but our defensive line just dominated up front, and we just tried to take away any deep plays.”
The Hawks rushed for 33 yards on 16 attempts. Add in the two sacks, and they finished with 21 yards rushing.
“We just cannot run the ball right now,” Hockinson coach Rick Steele said. “It’s disappointing.”
Look who’s back: Junior Michael Knox, who rushed for more than 700 yards last season, only recently became eligible to rejoin the team.
After the Hawks scored early in the fourth quarter to draw within 18 points, Knox made his presence felt with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to push the margin back to 24 with 10 minutes left in the game.
The Spudders created a seam down the left hashmarks, and Knox burst through it, split two Hawks, and raced untouched to the end zone.
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R.A. LONG 34, WASHOUGAL 31
The Panthers suffer another tough, close loss.
Not again: Jacob Yordy scored with a minute left in the game to give R.A. Long a 34-31 advantage. Washougal had led 23-6 going into the fourth quarter.
Last year, Washougal lost its final three games. One came in double overtime, another came in overtime, and the third was by one touchdown.
Big numbers: Washougal’s Bobby Jacobs had 154 yards on 20 carries Friday, giving him 819 yards in five games. We have not had the Washougal stats up to date in our data base, but I’m happy to announce we have tracked down the numbers and will update our stats sometime this weekend.
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WOODLAND 62, ILWACO 0
Yikes. Total annihilation.
Big gains: Cy Whitmire touched the ball four times on offense, scored two touchdowns and gained 93 yards. Eli Whitmire scored four touchdowns. Hunter Huddleston was credited with 197 yards passing on five completions. The Woodland coach reported 279 yards receiving, so we assume there was a back-up quarterback in there who threw for the other 82 yards.
Big game: Woodland (4-0 in the Trico League) travels to face Toledo (4-0 in league play) next week.
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LA CENTER 36, WHITE SALMON 7
The Wildcats remain undefeated with another easy win.
Almost a shutout: Wyatt Agguire scored had a 100-yard rushing game, scored on a run and a reception, and quarterback Dylan White threw two TD passes. La Center led 36-0 before White Salmon found the end zone late in the contest.
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STEVENSON 30, KALAMA 0
The Bulldogs win for the second week in a row.
A double shutout: Stevenson has blanked its last two opponents, outscoring them 80-0. Josh Anderson rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns this week.
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TOLEDO 60, SETON CATHOLIC 13
Another long game for the new varsity program.
Something to cheer about: While he does not get many opportunities, Seton kicker Erik Powell has one of the best legs in Clark County. Friday, he made field goals of 28 and 33 yards to get the Cougars on the board in the first half.
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That’s it for this week.
Thanks for extra notes from Greg Jayne from the Mountain View-Prairie game, Rene Ferran from the Ridgefield-Hockinson game, and Paul Danzer from the McKenzie doubleheader, as well as Jeff Klein for tracking down a quote or two from Battle Ground.
