Camas, Archbishop Murphy, Royal win state football titles
Jack Colletto scored on a 34-yard keeper with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter to seal Camas’ 24-14 victory over Richland in the State 4A football championship Saturday night in the Tacoma Dome.
Colletto completed 14 of 19 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown and added 46 yards rushing. He also picked off Paxton Stevens’ pass on the Bombers’ final drive of the game.
Camas capped off a 3-0 season with its first state championship in school history.
Trailing 10-7 at halftime, Richland took its only lead of the game on the first drive of the second half as Camas’ Ben Stanfield fumbled near the goal line and the Bombers recovered in the end zone. But Ben Schultz quickly answered for the Papermakers, scoring a 38-yard touchdown to regain the lead for Camas, 17-14.
The Bombers moved into Camas territory to begin the fourth quarter, facing a fourth-and-1 at the Papermaker 14, but they turned the ball over on downs and were forced to punt on their next drive before Colletto’s touchdown run.
Colletto quickly opened the scoring for the Papermakers in the first quarter, avoiding a sack and finding Cooper McNatt for a 35-yard score. Colletto finished the first quarter 8 of 9 for 87 yards, while the Bombers gained just 33 yards of total offense.
Richland found its footing in the second quarter and tied the game with 1 minute left in the first half on Stanfield’s 41-yard touchdown run.
Michael Boyle gave Camas a 10-7 halftime lead, connecting on a 34-yard field goal as time expired.
State 2A
Connor Johnson threw a title-game record-tying five touchdown passes to help Archbishop Murphy crush Liberty 56-14.
Johnson completed 10 of 12 for 356 yards to lead Archbishop Murphy (14-0) to its third state title and first since winning the 1A crown in 2003.
Austin Regis completed 7 of 12 for 116 yards and one TD to lead Liberty (12-1). The Renton school won its only state title in 1988.
Johnson threw a 69-yard TD pass to Anfernee Gurley to put the Wildcats up 49-7 late in the third quarter, which by state rules meant a running clock for the rest of the game with a lead of 40 or more points. The Wildcats led 35-7 at halftime.
Archbishop Murphy won five regular-season games by forfeit when teams refused to play the Everett private school for fear of injury because of its larger players (five linemen stand 6-foot-1 to 6-8 and weigh between 260 and 330 pounds). The Wildcats also had won their first three games by a combined score of 170-0.
In nine games played on the field, the Wildcats outscored their opponents 463-44.
State 1A
Senior quarterback Kaden Jenks compiled a title-game record 392 total yards, threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to help Royal beat Connell 25-10 for its second straight title.
The 6-2 Jenks completed 12 of 24 for 246 yards and rushed 20 times for 146 yards as Royal (13-0) won its 27th consecutive game and seventh state title.
Jenks threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Corbin Christensen and ran 1 yard for a score in the third quarter to break a 10-10 halftime tie between the rival schools about 45 miles apart in Eastern Washington. Jenks had 36 TD passes this season.
Senior quarterback Brian Hawkins completed 10 of 24 for 135 yards and one TD to lead Connell (12-2). He also rushed for 118 yards on 14 carries.
Royal beat Connell 28-21 in a regular-season game on Oct. 14 and 47-7 in last year’s semifinals. Connell has won three state titles, its last in 2011.