But John Norcross and the Camas High Papermakers will take it.
Norcross returned two fumbles for second-half touchdowns – one as a tight end and the other at linebacker – and the No. 7 Papermakers defeated eighth-ranked Timberline, 20-6, in a nonleague showdown Friday night in Camas.
The one play that ended up being the game-winning score had Timberline coach Nick Mullen scratching his head all the way back to Lacey.
With the score tied 6-6 late in the third quarter, Camas had the ball in Blazers’ territory when the Papermakers tried a pass.
Two Timberline defenders knocked the ball out of the grasp of the receiver, and the ball fell to the ground.
Standing nearby, Norcross grabbed the ball and rumbled 25 yards to the end zone while the Blazers’ players assumed the play was dead. It was not. The referees ruled the play as a catch and fumble, and the junior was awarded a touchdown. Camas led 13-6 with three minutes to go in the third quarter.
“Craziest play I have ever seen,” Mullen said. “Both my kids broke on the ball and knocked it down. We thought (the play) was dead. I guess it was our fault, not playing to the whistle.”
Norcross put the game away with 91/2 minutes remaining in the game when he picked up a botched exchange in the Timberline backfield and took it 42 yards for a touchdown.
Timberline, which had a pair of turnovers and was stopped on fourth down in the first half, drove it 80 yards on its opening drive of the second half.
Spencer Crump scored on a 2-yard run, but the Blazers missed the extra-point kick.
“Defensively this year, like I said before, we are going to be solid – and we had them dialed in pretty well,” Mullen said. “Offensively, we just struggled.”
Timberline quarterback James Segura-Mitchell completed 6 of 12 passes for 43 yards, and he added 60 rushing yards.
River Ridge 27, at Washington 26: Brad Wallace rushed for 202 yards on 21 carries for the Hawks, including a 44-yard touchdown run as one of the Hawks’ three first-half touchdowns in a victory in Parkland.
But it took a stop by backup linebacker Trevor Smith on a late-game two-point conversion run by Washington’s Ramsey Davis to preserve the victory. The Patriots rallied with 19 fourth-quarter points.
Colby Schultz completed 6 of 8 passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start at quarterback.
At Montesano 60, Black Hills 7: Cameron Stone scored his first career touchdown for the Wolves on an 8-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs had built a big lead in the first three quarters.
Black Hills only ran 38 offensive plays.
At Enumclaw 28, Yelm 14: Tyler Carlson scored on three quarterback runs for the Hornets, and Cameron Strecker iced the game with his scoring run with 4:11 remaining as Enumclaw won at home.
At Centralia 7, Franklin Pierce 6: The Tigers’ defense turned the visiting Cardinals away three times in the red zone in the second half and forced three turnovers to preserve a non-league victory in new coach Steve Amrine’s debut.
Quarterback Levi Studeman scored in the first quarter on a 1-yard run to give Centralia a 7-0 lead, but it was a see-saw affair from then on.
