Ravens tumble in district playoffs

No. 4 Camas subdues Auburn Riverside to reach 4A state field

Eyes stained with tears and jersey soaked in sweat, Trendae Umi-Tuato’o couldn’t hide the pain of an abrupt, season-ending defeat last Friday night.

“We can’t replay it. What’s done is done,” said Auburn Riverside’s 285-pound senior lineman. “We played all out but just came up short. Nothing was a surprise. We were prepared. … Sometimes we (did) our jobs, sometimes we didn’t.”

Fourth-ranked Camas, the defending 4A state champion, bottled up mistake-prone Auburn Riverside and pulled away with an emphatic 40-0 district playoff win in the damp chill at Auburn Memorial Stadium. The Papermakers (9-1) advance to the first round of the 16-team state playoffs, where they will go east to face Central Valley of Spokane this week.

The Ravens’ season ends at 8-2, having reached the district playoffs in back-to-back Novembers.

“We had a great year. The kids competed,” said Ravens coach Bryant Thomas. “I told the kids, ‘One game doesn’t dictate the kind of season you had. Keep your heads up and enjoy the fact you had a great season.’ ”

For the most part, Auburn Riverside shut down the run, but Camas took flight behind Kyle Allen’s right arm. The mobile senior quarterback completed 24 of 39 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns, and managed the game by repeatedly finding elusive Drake Owen on drive-sustaining plays.

Owen finished with 13 catches for 137 yards.

“The biggest difference is we couldn’t stop (No.) 21,” Thomas said of Owen. “At the end of the day, he made six or seven third-down conversions. We just could not stop them. When that happens, it’s a struggle.

“We couldn’t consistently move the ball,” Thomas added. “That’s a good football team. We hung around a little bit, and it just got away from us in the second half. It started to get away from us, and we couldn’t recover.”

Tiano Malietufa, hobbled by a sore hamstring, completed 4 of 16 passes for 62 yards. Sam Braboy was held to 87 rushing yards on 16 carries.

“We should have done better,” Malietufa said afterward.

Defensively, the Ravens were without standout end Justus Legg, a Pac-12 recruit who was nursing a sore shoulder.

Camas scored on its first two possessions, Allen’s 28-yard strike to Will Schultz, followed by Andrew Boyle’s 32-yard field goal.

A Schultz’ sack, forced fumble and Dawson Ingram recovery set up the Papermakers’ second TD, an Allen 10-yard pass to Shane Jamison.

The Ravens drove deep for two scoring opportunities in the second quarter but came away empty.

Isaiah Abdul blocked Griffin Cummins’ 25-yard field goal attempt with 9:24 to go in the half.

“A blocked field goal is never a good thing, but I didn’t think it was a turning point. We just made a good play,” Owen said.

Later, Auburn Riverside reached Camas’ 25, but on fourth down, Jaden Robinson stumbled in the end zone trying to reach for Malietufa’s pass with 47 seconds remaining.

Camas took over in the second half, with Allen throwing his third TD, Boyce kicking his second field goal, and Schultz and Rylan Thompson adding scoring runs.

“Tough game. They’re a good team. It was an honor to play against them,” Braboy said. “We showed what we could do. I definitely think we could have showed more, but I definitely think we showed people what we were all about.”

Owen added: “They’re a good, physical team, very strong. … We just made the adjustments, trusted our coaches, did our jobs, and now it feels good to be moving on.”

Elsewhere

At No. 5 Puyallup 42, Auburn Mountainview 13: Kyle Cramer ran for 207 yards and three touchdowns and George Johnston intercepted two passes, including one for a touchdown, as the Vikings eliminated the Lions from the district playoffs last Friday at Sparks Stadium.

Sui Daniels completed 29 of 48 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown for the Lions (4-6).

Talan Alfrey had 12 catches for 119 yards.