Written by: Will Hoenike
On the heels of one of the biggest 8-man playoff upsets in many years, expectations have gone up at Camas County High School in Fairfield.
The Mushers entered the 1A Division 2 playoff bracket as seed 4-D, meaning they were the fourth-place team out of District 4, drawing a first-round matchup against District 5 champ North Gem. The end result was a 42-36 upset victory for the Mushers before falling the next week to league rival Dietrich.
Only two seniors – Dawson Kramer and Xander Niehay – graduated from that team.
“We have a young team all around,” said head coach Rusty Kramer. “I believe our success will be these young men believing in themselves. We made some noise in the playoffs last year and the boys still have the taste in their mouths from losing the state championship in basketball (a 53-51 defeat against Rockland). We have a tremendous amount of talent, but these young men need to believe in themselves.”
Camas County returns almost everyone from last fall. Losing an all-state performer like Kramer along with Niehay hurts, but the Musher staff likes the pieces they have coming back this season.
“I am most excited about the depth at some positions,” said Kramer of a roster that could top 20 players. “Lots of years, we have had such low numbers that some positions are figured out by the first day of practice. There are several positions that are completely up in the air.”
The team looks strong up front coming into the season with honorable-mention All-Sawtooth center Kaidin Baxter back along with second-team guard Mason Quinonez. They’ll be blocking for fellow honorees Marcus Staley and Troy Smith, among others.
“The talented junior class or Emmett Palan, Tyson Tupper, Sage Patton, Trevor Tews, Tristen Smith, and Troy Smith are super talented and will be trying out for multiple skill positions and linebacker and defensive back on defense,” Kramer said.
From the stating-the-obvious category, Camas County found most success when the offense was clicking. The Mushers averaged more than 64 points per game in their three wins, including an 80-point explosion in the final week of the regular season to clinch a playoff berth, but just over 11 points per game in the team’s seven losses.
“I think our strength will be in our offensive line that will give our offensive weapons the room to do their damage,” Kramer said. “We have multiple weapons that offensive coordinator Dallas Smith uses in many different ways so we will have the option to have a more wide-open offense.”
Perhaps one of the highlights of the Camas County schedule, from one point of view, comes from who isn’t on it rather than who is. Perennial 1A Division 2 powerhouse Carey has left the Sawtooth Conference to move up to the 1A Division 1 classification. How tough of a matchup had that been for Camas County? The Mushers haven’t scored against Carey since September 1, 2017, losing the last three matchups by a cumulative score of 144-0.
That’s not to say the path is free of obstacles now. Castleford (9/30) and Dietrich (10/14) remain on the schedule after reaching the 1A Division 2 state semifinals last season. The Mushers will also open the season against 2021 playoff qualifiers Rockland and North Gem.
Coach Kramer and his squad have shown the ability to do good things. Now, with an additional year of experience, the opportunity is there to go even farther. It won’t be easy, but the Mushers have a chance to be a sleeper team in the 1A Division 2 classification this fall.