State football: Gonzaga Prep falters in fourth, falls to No. 1 Camas in 4A semifinal; Freeman outlasted by Okanogan in 2B

When two teams enter a state semifinal undefeated, one has to come away disappointed.

Despite leading most of the game, fifth-seeded Gonzaga Prep faltered in the fourth quarter and fell to top-seeded Camas 28-20 in a State 4A semifinal at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver, ending its season at 12-1.

Camas quarterback Jake Davidson connected with Chase McGee on a 69-yard touchdown pass with less than 3 minutes to play to complete a 21-0 fourth-quarter run, allowing the No. 1 Papermakers (12-0) to advance to the championship game at Husky Stadium next week.

Gonzaga Prep managed just two first downs in the final quarter.

Bullpups quarterback Sam Kincaid completed 9 of 16 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown . Noah Holman carried 19 times for 49 yards and Jonah Keller made three catches for 98 yards.

Davidson completed 14 of 22 passes for 257 yards and three TDs. McGee made seven catches for 150 yards with a pair of scores. Titan Brody carried 21 times for 97 yards.

Kincaid connected with Keller on a couple of long completions and the Bullpups took their opening drive 80 yards in 11 plays, culminated by Holman’s 3-yard TD plunge.

Wren Jackson intercepted Davidson early in the second quarter to thwart a drive.

After the Bullpups forced a punt, Kincaid found wing back Jimmy Grainger wide open on a wheel route. Grainger went 55 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and 13-0 lead.

Camas got the ball back with just less than 3 minutes in the half. Davidson hit on six straight completions then connected with Brody on a 20-yard touchdown pass to go 74 yards in 10 plays.

G-Prep led 13-7 at the half.

The Bullpups turned Camas over on downs at the G-Prep 35 to start the third quarter. Keller caught a 36-yard pass to the 4, then Holman did the rest to make it 20-7.

It was all Camas after that.

The Papermakers turned to Brody, who carried nine out of 10 plays to the G-Prep 22, where Davidson hit McGee in the back of the end zone.

Camas forced a three-and-out, then Davidson gave Anthony Forner a wide receiver screen. He took it 51 yards for a score and 21-20 lead with 7:39 to go.Another Bullpups three-and-out gave Camas the ball at its 33, then Davidson hit McGee on a fly pattern to make it an eight-point game.

Kincaid’s long heave on fourth-and-long with less than 2 minutes left was knocked down by Forner and Camas ran out the clock.

2B

Okanogan 36, Freeman 26: Vance Coyner caught four touchdown passes from Logan Schultz, but it wasn’t enough as the top-seeded Bulldogs (13-0) beat the Scotties (10-2) in a 2B semifinal at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee.

Carter Kuchenbuch scored three rushing TDs for Okanogan, which plays in the title game Saturday at Husky Stadium.

Freeman led 14-8 in the first half on 25- and 12-yard TD passes from Schultz to Coyner, but Okanogan got its single-wing rushing attack in gear to score the next three touchdowns, forcing the Scotties to play from behind.

“We faced a couple scores early in the season, and we didn’t seem to panic then and we didn’t seem to panic now,” Okanogan head coach Erick Judd said.

Coyner hauled in a long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to again make it a 10-point game, and the Scotties recovered an onside kick.

Schultz was picked off with 3 minutes left to seal it for the Bulldogs.

“This isn’t the first game we played against a bigger team, and I thought we responded phenomenally,” Scotties coach Mike McKeown said. “Our team is full of phenomenal young men, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

–Lane Mathews contributed to this report.

1B

Wilbur-Creston-Keller 52, Naselle 28: The second-seeded Wildcats (13-0) used a 44-7 second half to down the third-seeded Comets (11-1) in a 1B semifinal at Lions Field in Moses Lake. WCK faces top-seeded Liberty Christian in the State 1B title game at Husky Stadium on Friday at 11 a.m.

WCK scored two touchdowns in the span of 48 seconds after recovering an onside kick early in the fourth quarter to turn a four-point deficit into a two-score game.

Liberty Christian 36, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 28: Charlie Branning scored on touchdown runs of 52 and 29 yards and the Patriots (12-0) overcame a halftime deficit and outlasted the fourth-seeded Warriors (10-3) at Lions Field. LC outscored ACH 20-0 in the third quarter. Carter Pitts had 203 yards rushing with a TD and Caden Corriea carried for 162 yards with two TDs for ACH..