Football is played on a 100 yard field. 300 feet. 3,600 inches of grass from endzone to endzone. It's a game that happens in gaps and close quarters on a wide open field, wins and losses determined by mere inches. There is no use second guessing those inches. The game is over, the score has been recorded, the trophies have been handed out. What-ifs and could-have-beens won't change the result. Only one team ends their season with a win.

The undefeated Richland Bombers took on the undefeated Camas Papermakers in the 4A championship game, and it was as good a game as anyone could have asked for. Tough defense, big plays, heroic efforts, all of it, and the outcome was in doubt until the very last minutes of the game. Richland scored two touchdowns, Camas scored three.

The Bomber defense came out blazing, keying on the Papermakers' main weapon, quarterback Jack Colletto, and preventing significant gains. Starting at their own 40 yard line, Camas fought for yards, taking three minutes and six plays to advance 25 yards to the Richland 35. The seventh play looked like a sack, but Colletto slipped out and saw a receiver streaking down the left sideline and fired a pass to the endzone, the receiver leaped to grab the ball and fell into the endzone for the first score.

Richland's first possession started off well with running back Ben Stanfield going for 10 yards and a first down on his first run, bowling over the Camas safety for an exclamation point, but the rest of the drive was stifled by a swarm of Papermakers. The rest of the first quarter was scoreless, both teams battling tough defenses and trading punts, and it stayed that way well into the second quarter when the Bombers made their way to the Camas 41.

Stanfield took a handoff going left, looked for an opening on the inside, cut left again, and outran the defense to the endzone to even the score with 1:00 left in the half. Starting at their own 5, Camas quickly made their way to midfield where Colletto found a receiver in the middle of the field for a 30 yard gain. With time almost gone they took the field goal option, 10-7 Camas.

Stanfield opened the second half with another 10 yard run, followed by a short keeper by Paxton Stevens. From the 35, the Bombers showed run but threw instead to Gaven Brasker, who had ditched his man at the line. Grabbing the ball at the 50, Brasker stepped right to dodge a tackle, spun out of another at the 40, and was finally brought down by the ankle at the Camas 35. Eventually making their way inside the 5 yard line, Stanfield powered the ball up the middle between Colton Michaels and Aric Davison, but had the ball stripped a few inches from the endzone. Parker McCary was there to jump on the ball and bring the score to 14-10 with 7:33 left in the third quarter. Stanfield's first fumble of the season turned out well.

Two minutes later, the Papermakers had advanced to the Richland 40 yard line. Colletto faked a keeper to the right and sent the handoff to the left, where the back slipped by his blockers and made his way down the sideline to give his team a 17-14 lead with five minutes left in the quarter. A big catch by Adam Weissenfels out of the right slot took Richland from their own 40 to the Camas 25, but Camas remained tough, preventing a score.

The Bomber D also stayed tough, forcing a punt on the next Camas possession, and the offense got the ball back at the Richland 20. Following a penalty and a failed reverse pass, the Bombers were pinned near their own endzone looking at third down and 15 yards to go. Stevens saw Kody Kjarmo on the right and lobbed the ball out to the 40, where Kjarmo leaped up and grabbed the clutch catch of his career. The Camas defense stifled any progress from there, and Richland opted to punt, putting Camas on the 30.

With less than half of the final quarter to go, Richland needed to hold Camas and get the ball back. Colletto had other plans, as he took the game into his own hands and bulled his way to two first downs. From the Richland 35, and with the Bomber D out of sorts due to an injury to safety Ryan Piper, Colletto found an opening off the left tackle and raced through open field to put Camas up by 10 points. With 2:39 left in the game, it effectively sealed the win. A low snap put the Bombers back on their own 5, and Stanfield's run to the 30 was called back on a holding penalty. Kjarmo took a catch from the 10 to the 20, but Stevens' fourth down pass to midfield was picked off by Colletto (who else?), and with only one minute to go, the game was all but over.

Despite losing a championship game they believed they could and would win, the Bombers had a good performance. Camas had been held to less than 40 points only three times, the previous low being a 28-14 win over Skyline in the quarterfinal, and had held other teams to 14 or fewer points in all but three games. Senior lineman Brigham Whitby played his heart out and made plays, despite being double and triple teamed the entire game. Victor Strasser had a great game at linebacker with 11 tackles and multiple sacks, as well as teaming up with Whitby on a thunderous hit to Colletto that had everyone wondering if the QB would stay in the game. Alex Chapman and Weissenfels provided good pass coverage to prevent big plays.

The running game came up with 128 yards, including 83 from Stanfield, and Stevens ended the night with 175 passing yards. It was a game of big stops by tough defenses and big plays on offense. It was timing and inches. Camas was 14-0, Richland was 13-1. It was a great season by a memorable team. The seniors will definitely be missed, but as good as the team was, it was a young team. The junior class will be ready to use the experience they gained and try to put together another run at state in 2017. As always, a sea of green and gold will be there to cheer them on.

Go Bombers!