HS Football: 4A Instant Classic as Sumner wins their 1st Title since 1977 on final play over Camas

12/7/2024

Sumner 27, Camas 24

(Seattle, WA) The Fall sports season came to a climax Saturday night when the #1 seeded Camas Papermakers took on the 2 seed Sumner. Both teams were looking to return the State championship to their trophy cases. The Papermakers last won it all in 2017 while the Spartans were seeking their 1st Championship since 1977.

Both teams came rolling in with big credentials and both with dramatic come-from-behind wins in the State Semifinals. Camas trailed Gonzaga Prep 20-7 entering the 4th quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points in the 4th for the 28-20 win to advance to Saturday night. Sumner trailed 21-7 at halftime to Chiawana and had to go to 3 overtimes to get to the State Championship.

Camas was a perfect 13-0 and Sumner 12-1 with their lone loss being to West Linn of Oregon, the 2 time 6A Champions. So coming into this game these 2 teams were matched so evenly it was tough to choose a winner if you did not have a direct tie to one of the teams. And the game played out that way as well with one of the all-time most entertaining State Championship games.

The two teams traded possessions to begin the game. Sumner with their 2nd possession took over on their own 35 yard line and were focused on running the ball with Steele Isaacs. The Spartans chipped away with Isaacs gaining good yardage while QB Nate Donavan was hitting some underneath passing oppotunities with completions to Braylen Pope and found themselves on the Camas 25 yard line with a 2nd and 4.

Donavan handed off to Isaacs on the 8th play of the drive and he broke it right up the middle and powered his way in for 6 and Sumner had the early lead. Austin Ferencz booted home the PAT and it was 7-0 with 6:51 to play in the 1st quarter.

After forcing Camas to punt the Spartans began another drive from their own 30. On a 3rd and 14 Donavan lofted a pretty pass to Kainoa Grounds for 36 yards putting the Spartans in scoring position at the Papermaker 38. After 3 downs and just 7 yards facing a 4th and 3 Head Coach Keith Ross sent on his kicker Ferencz to attempt a 48 yard field goal. Ferencz hit a long drive with the distance but pulled it and missed.

The teams would then agasin exchange possessions but it wouldn’t be until early in the 2nd quarter when Camas took control with the ball on their own 30. The Papermakers mimicked the Sumner scoring drive by picking away at the Spartan defense but attacking the flats with short passes as QB Jake Davidson hit Chase McGee, Jack McDonald and Anthony Forner while running the ball himself several times.

They would get to the 9 on a 2nd and goal when Davidson dropped back and lofted a high pass to tightend Nikko Speer who then reached up with 1 hand and hauled in a spectacular touchdown catch. The play threw the Papermaker faithful into a tizzy. Jackson Tyler booted home the PAT and it was tied 7-7.

Sumner would have another chance to score but another long field goal attempt just missed so this is how the score would stand heading into halftime. The first half felt much like an old fashioned heavyweight boxing match with some jabs being thrown as each side gathered information on how to attack in the 2nd half. Both teams got in a couple of hard hits but there was nothing between them after the first 24 minutes.

As the 2nd half began the Papermakers began with the ball but a big fumble by Davidson who took a big hit from Gray Longoria ended up in the hands of Mason Thayer for the Spartans on the 24 yard line. Sumner took advantage with Isaacs plowing through the heart of the defense again with a 1st down carry of 8 yards and then finishing it off on 2nd down with a 16 yard TD run. Ferencz adde the point after and Sumner took a 14-7 lead with 10:54 to play in the 3rd.

Camas then felt some urgency to respond andf Head Coach Adam Mathieson had his team focused and ready to move past the mistake. The Papermakers took over on their own 20. After spreading the ball around again by Davidson and a roughing penalty the Papermakers worked their way down to the Spartan 39. Davidson then dropped back and found McGee with another perfect pass at the 2 surging in for the tying score after the Tyler PAT. The scoring drive was 80 yards in 6 plays and took 2:02 off the clock.

Sumner was ready to respond and did so on the next drive. After a decent kick return from Devin Caminong to the 27 the Spartans connection between Donavan and Grounds came up big again with a 48 yard bomb to the Camas 9 where Sumner had a 1st and goal. The Papermaker defense then dug in and stuffed Isaacs for no gain on a big tackle by Zuko Lopez. Camas then came up with 2 big pass defenses to force a 4th and 9 where Ferencz came on and split the uprights to salvage 3 points and the lead 17-14.

The showdown was just heating up as Camas was prepared to take the next swing and they connected with a 5 play 80 yard drive in about 90 seconds that culminated with Davidson hitting another short flat pass to McGee but this time he busted it open and sprinted 61 yards to give Camas their 1st lead in the game. Tyler connected on the PAT to make it a 4 point advantage 21-17.

That score held until Sumner’s 1st drive of the 4th quarter which they took over on the Camas 30 after a short punt and drove down to the 13 yard line. Donavan then hit tight end Carter Cocke` for the go-ahead touchdown and after the good PAT Sumner again led by 3, 24-21.

This left 9:12 on the clock and the next 2 drives would determine the new 4A Champion. Camas would take their shot first beginning on their own 20 as Ferencz kicked every kick-off into the endzone. After a 2 yard loss on 1st down, Davidson would find McDonald for a 32 yard connection moving the ball to the 50. Two more completions to McGee pushed the ball another 26 yards to the 24. Camas would work it down to the 15 but the Spartan defense stiffened and forced a 4th and 13. The Papermakers sent out Tyler to attempt a 34 yard field goal and as he kicked it, it seemed that something prevented him from kicking it clean and the ball got up and had just enough to get over the crossbar to tie the game at 24 with about 6:00 to play in the game.

This set up a dramatic drive that Hollywood producers would have rejected as unbelievable. If O’Dea was a team of destiny in the 3A title game then Sumner must have scooped up some left over destiny from their sideline as the dramatic conclusion played out.

After a solid 21 yard kick-off return by Wyatt Plyler to the 31 the Spartans had 5:55 to go in the game. After their 1st 3 downs they were facing a 4th and 4 on their own 37. Coach Ross sent out the punt team. The 1st play of this destined drive was the snap of the ball did not go to the punter Santos Hernandez-Ruis but instead to upman Aaron Black. Black then took off right up between the guard and tackle to gain 6 yards and give Sumner a critical 1st down.

Coach Ross told reporters after the game he had changed his mind and didn’t like the numbers for the play called and was shouting to kill the play but said no one could hear him and fortunately they ran it perfectly and picked up the 1st down.

Donavan would find his key receiver in this game once again and hit Kainoa Grounds for 30 yards to get down to the Camas 28. Then on 2nd and 6 from the 24 Donavan found Cocke` again who ran up the far side but took a shot and fumbled the ball which then rolled forward and out of bounds at the 17 giving the Spartans a 1st down.

The excitement was just beginning as on 3rd and 2 Che Molina carried the ball for Sumner and took a hit from Luke Webb forcing another fumble but Molina was able to get back on it and gave Sumner another 1st down on the Camas 4 yard line. Sumner then ran the ball to Molina again to move the ball mostly to the middle of the field for no gain. Coach Ross then let the clock tick down to 4 seconds and called time-out. Ferencz came on to try to end the game on the final play.

Ferencz lined it up and at the last second Coach Mathieson called the time-out to try and freeze Ferencz. Once the time-outs concluded there were none left so it came down to the snap, the hold and kick. Mason Thayer snapped the ball to holder Aaron Black who spotted it for Ferencz and Austin delivered the State Championship trophy back to Sumner for the 1st time since 1977.

The game was an amazing finish to the 2024 Fall sports season. It was truly one of those cliche moments where it was tough to see either side take the loss but you also couldn’t be anything but happy for whomever survived this battle.

Our Thorbeckes MVP was a tough one and we decided to give co-MVP’s to Austin Ferencz for battling through the early misses delivering the game winning points and kicking off every kick into the endzone and Aaron Black. Black who got that critical 1st down on the fake punt and is mainly only the holder for Ferencz so he had a hand in the game winner in 2 ways as well.

Camas settled for the 2nd place trophy and finished the season with an impressive 13-1 record while Sumner also finished 13-1 while claiming the Title. On a funny sidenote, to win the 4A title appaarently you need to schedule West Linn of Oregon and lose to them as the last 3 teams to win the 4A Championship did just that. Lake Stevens lost to West Linn in 2022 and 2023 only to win back-to-back titles and Sumner for the 1st time in 20 years even got to play a non-league game and their only loss this year was to West Linn.

For a complete look at the full box score or completed bracket click links below along with a link to the full broadcast on the NFHS Network.

Link to Final 4A Bracket

Link to full Box Score

Link to full game broadcast on the NFHS Network (subscription required)