Seton Catholic scores in final minute in wild 1A victory, Camas got the job done in 4A home game; while No. 3 seed La Center was shut out in second half of its loss to Montesano

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Thanksgiving Dinner will taste even better for two Clark County high school football teams.

Camas and Seton Catholic will be practicing on the holiday after each team won in the state quarterfinals Saturday.

La Center and Skyview, meanwhile, fell in their quarterfinal games.

There were no surprises for Camas, the top seed in Class 4A. The Papermakers topped No. 8 Arlington 35-21 in an afternoon game at Doc Harris Stadium.

Later that night and also at Doc Harris Stadium, Seton Catholic, the 2-seed in the Class 1A state playoffs, needed a late touchdown and extra point to hold off No. 7 Life Christian Academy.  

Camas and Seton Catholic will “host” state semifinal games in Clark County. Camas is confirmed to be playing at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30 at McKenzie Stadium against No. 5 Gonzaga Prep. Seton Catholic will be at McKenzie Stadium as well, taking on No. 6 Montesano. That game is most likely going to be at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30.  

This is the second consecutive year that Seton Catholic has made it to Thanksgiving. The Cougars reached the state semifinals in 2023.

The winners of the semifinals will play in championship games in Husky Stadium. The 1A championship game is Friday, Dec. 6, while the 4A title game is Saturday, Dec. 7.

Here is how Saturday went down for Clark County high school football teams.

1 p.m. games

No. 1 Camas 35, No. 8 Arlington 21

The Papermakers scored four touchdowns in the first half to take control 28-7. Camas quarterback Jake Davidson threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another in the first half. 

Arlington had plenty of scoring opportunities, but the Papermakers, for the most part, had a bend-but-not-break effect on defense. Arlington scored just before halftime to make it 28-14.

Arlington would make it 28-21 late in the game, but Camas, after a strong passing performance in the first half, went to the rushing attack and marched down the field for a game-clinching touchdown.

Camas improved to 12-0. 

No. 6 Montesano 21, No. 3 La Center 10

Montesano scored two second-half touchdowns and shut out the Wildcats in the second half to stun La Center in a 1A quarterfinal at Woodland High School.

Parker McKinney’s long touchdown pass from Wyatt Eiesland gave La Center a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter. 

Montesano’s defense, though, was up to the challenge from there, shutting down the Wildcats, ending their season.

“It’s a brotherhood. It’s a family,” Eiesland said of his time with the Wildcats. “We’ve played together since the third and fourth grade. I grew up with them. It’s really become a brotherhood. I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Eisland is one of nine seniors on this year’s team.

“You hate to see any season end, but I think they set a really great foundation for the rest of the guys,” La Center coach John Lambert said of those seniors.

As far as the game itself, Lambert gave Montesano credit.

“Obviously it’s disappointing. We didn’t play like we wanted to, but Montesano played a great game. They had a great plan. We didn’t finish it the way we wanted,” Lambert said.

He said he was proud of his players for their battle, not just Saturday but for the whole season. La Center finished 9-2.

“I think of all the teams that aren’t playing right now that would have loved to play today,” Lambert said.

7 p.m. games

No. 2 Seton Catholic 42, No. 7 Life Christian Academy 41

The Seton Catholic Cougars had a little more than two minutes left in the game, left in their season if they did not convert.

They converted.

And they are going back to the state semifinals.

“I think we knew as a team we were going to get it done,” said Jacob Williams, noting that this team was in a similar situation last year in the quarterfinals, too. “It’s more like, how are we going to get it done? We do really well in adversity. We thrive through it, we breathe it, we eat it up. That’s when we play our best football, and it really shows.”

The Cougars, trailing 41-35, got a long kickoff return, then went to work on offense. Joe Callerame’s run got Seton to the 1-yard line, with the clock continuing to tick.

Then Williams got the call.

“That’s what you play in the backyard and you dream about it all your life,” Williams said of the scenario, game on the line and the coach calling his number. “To see it happening in front of me, it’s surreal to me.”

Life Christian Academy scored first in this game, then Seton scored the next two touchdowns. The game was tied at 13, and soon enough it was 20-19 for Seton. The Cougars would then go up 28-19 early in the third quarter, only to see the Eagles score the next two touchdowns, with two-point conversions, to take a seven-point lead with 10 minutes to play in the game.

There would still be three more touchdowns scored in this one.

Williams scored on a short run to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles responded with a long touchdown run. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on that play pushed the Eagles 15 yards back on the extra-point try. The Eagles opted for the 2-point try rather than kick, missed, leaving Seton Catholic down by six with 2:28 to play.

As Williams said, the Cougars knew they were going to make it happen, and make it the final four again.

No. 2 Sumner 41, No. 7 Skyview 0

Skyview’s season came to an end, as did the coaching career of head coach Steve Kizer.

Sumner had no trouble with the Storm, racing out to a 24-0 halftime lead.

Skyview’s season ends with an 8-4 record and a trip to the quarterfinals. 

Kizer finishes his 21-year career at Skyview with a record of 155-76, the exact same record as John O’Rourke, who coached at Columbia River. Gary Boggs also has 155 wins at Fort Vancouver.

Those three coaches are tied for fourth all-time in head coaching victories in Clark County high school football, according to research done by GSHL historian Bryan Levesque.