Trailing by 13 in the second half, the Papermakers believed in themselves and rallied for a 28-20 victory over Gonzaga Prep in the state semifinals at Vancouver’s McKenzie Stadium on Saturday

Paul Valencia 
ClarkCountyToday.com

It was all about trust and faith for the Camas Papermakers.

All game Saturday, they had to rely on one another. Even when things looked “scary,” they had to believe in each other. 

Because they did just that, the Camas Papermakers have another week of football.

A very special week of football, indeed.

Down two touchdowns in the second half, Camas rallied to top Gonzaga Prep 28-20 at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver to advance to the Class 4A state championship football game in Seattle next weekend.

Camas, the No. 1 seed in these playoffs, will take on No. 2 Sumner at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Husky Stadium.

With a quarter-and-a-half left to play Saturday, it was not looking so good for the Papermakers.

“It’s going to go one of two ways,” said Camas quarterback Jake Davidson, recalling his thought process when Camas punted the ball away in the third quarter, trailing 20-7. “Our season is going to just end, or we will have to go through the struggle and we gotta do our thing. Trust Coach Mathieson and trust all these players.”

“We talked about belief,” said linebacker Beau Harlan. “Just believe we can win this game. …

We played like it was going to be our last half, and now it won’t be our last half.”

Head coach Adam Matheison said he had had a “ton of faith” in defensive coordinator Dan Kielty’s strategy to get the ball back to the offense. And the coaches all believed the offense was just about to break out and make something happen.

True enough, the defense did its job, shutting out Gonzaga Prep the rest of the day.

True enough, the offense did its job, with Davidson throwing three second-half touchdown passes.

Davidson said he understands he will get some of the credit for the comeback win, but most of the credit, he noted, should go to his teammates. 

Chase McGee made an incredible leaping catch, with the defender making contact with him just before the ball arrived, to make it 20-14 early in the fourth quarter.

Cade Lukens made a fine open-field tackle on a third-down play for the Papermakers defense, leading to a GPrep punt. A couple minutes later, Davidson found Anthony Forner on a wide receiver screen. The blocking was perfect, and Forner broke free for a 51-yard touchdown to give the Papermakers a 21-20 lead with 7:39 to play.

Gonzaga Prep’s next third-down attempt was thwarted by Azalius Lopez, who blew up the play. Then Alexandra Hroza and Sawyer Clifton converged for the quarterback sack.

Time for Davidson and McGee again, this one a long touchdown pass for a 28-20 lead with 4:45 to play.

“I was in a zone to just run to the end zone,” McGee said, noting he did not hear the loud Camas crowd as he was sprinting on his 69-yard scoring play. “It felt amazing to know we were securing the game right here.”

GPrep’s fourth-down pass late in the game was knocked away by Forner, setting off a Camas celebration.

“There are not many words, but the feelings are great,” McGee said.

Mathieson said Kielty and the defense did a “great job” and then on offense, the coaches were “hunting” for the right combination. 

Ultimately, it came down to the athletes on the field, though.

“We found some plays, but players make those plays,” Mathieson said. “At some point, we gotta get the ball to 5 (McGee). At some point, that matters. Or get the ball to Forner. At some point, players make plays, and the kids did a heckuva job.”

Even before all those touchdown passes, the Camas offense set up Gonzaga Prep with an effective run game in the second half. Titan Brody finished the game with 101 yards on 22 carries.

Offensive lineman Ayden Jones loved having the coaching staff trust him and his colleagues up front.

“We have to do it. There’s no other way. There’s nothing left if we don’t do this,” Jones said. “So I’m just going to give it my all every single play. I know these guys next to me are going to give it their all every single play.”

Gonzaga Prep scored the first two touchdowns of this game. Camas got some momentum when Brody caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Davidson with 4 seconds left in the first half.

The Bullpups then got the only score of the third quarter to go up 20-7.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind,” McGee said. “We weren’t going to lose this game. It did get a little scary, that’s for sure. But we’re a really good team.”

That really good team is going to Seattle for the state championship game.

“I’ve dreamt of this since I was a little kid,” Davidson said. “We’ve got one more week. We’ve got a couple more things to do until my dreams come true.”

“I’m just so proud of everyone,” Harlan added. “We’ve been talking about going to this game since we were children. It almost brings tears to my eyes that we made it happen.”