Camas football team finds more success on the road

A long bus ride to Puyallup didn’t keep the Camas High School football team from firing on all cylinders Saturday.

Looking more comfortable and confident in the pocket, quarterback Liam Fitzgerald delivered 254 passing yards and four touchdowns to help the Papermakers rip Rogers 68-0. Bryan Kelly also reached the end zone three times.

“I’m definitely more calm out there and I know where people are going,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve got great protection up front, guys are making great catches and the running backs are doing really well. You can’t have good passing without good running and blocking.”

Jared Bentley grabbed two touchdown passes from Fitzgerald in the first quarter. James Price and Fitzgerald then hooked up on a 59-yard touchdown strike.

After running in touchdowns in the first and second quarters, Kelly turned a short pass from Fitzgerald into a 23-yard dash into the end zone just before halftime. Camas headed into the locker room with a 47-0 lead.

“[Rogers is] not a bad team,” said head coach Jon Eagle. “I think we just got on them. We’ve been playing better defense and our offense is executing pretty well.”

Hunter Bruno snagged a 45-yard touchdown pass from Jake Peebles in the third quarter. Jordan Del Moral earned a 13-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Charles Bronson returned a fumble for a 14-yard touchdown.

“Our quarterback execution is getting sharper each week,” Eagle said. “We’re spreading the ball around, developing depth and getting more guys out there.”

Camas beat three quality opponents to begin the season, but Eagle said now is not the time to coast. The Papermakers host Evergreen Friday, at Doc Harris Stadium. Skyview comes to town the week after. Every game in this revamped league is going to be important.

“Everything just ramps up a little bit more. Evergreen has a lot of talent and they can be dangerous,” Eagle said. “Winning masks problems. Losing exposes problems. The challenge for these kids is to keep working hard when everybody is telling them how good they are.

“Do you want to hear it from us, or do you want to learn it the hard way?”