CAMP RILEA Naselle and Ilwaco completed their 2011 Camp Rilea football experience at a Super Scrimmage that included nine controlled games between 18 teams from Oregon, Idaho and Washington Tuesday, July 19 near Gearhart, Ore.

The Fishermen battled to a 0-0 tie, but had two more first downs than a determined team from Colton, Ore., in the second 30-play scrimmage of the evening. The Comets later scored early against a combined team from Morton and White Pass, but fittingly the team from near the mountains passed for a winning touchdown on the final play of the scrum to post a two to one TD victory.

I was happy the way our defense rallied to the football and the enthusiasm our kids played with. We won a key game in the passing league and our coaches saw many bright spots. The kids had fun. One day we sent our line to the passing league and the backs worked on the lifts, Ilwacos Kevin McNulty said.

Ilwacos defense has really improved, Naselle coach Jeff Eaton said as he watched the Fishermen sack the Corbett quarterback during the scrimmage.

We were on the 15-yard line, but couldnt quite score to tie the Super Scrimmage game against a very good Morton-White Pass team, but we had a productive camp, Eaton said. We were able to put in a few wrinkles for both our defense and offense for the upcoming season. We could have finished second in the passing league, but South Bend scored on us the last play of the game. We did a lot of good things and found out a few things we will need to work on and the guys had fun.

Naselles Ryley Queener, nursing an injured knee, still managed to finish first among all players from the 18 teams in the heavy-weight bench press with a projected lift of 316 pounds. Seth Scrabeck was second in the event for the Comets and Robert Eaton was third among running backs in maximum and endurance lifting at the camp.

Both Ilwaco and Naselle suffered a couple of minor injuries, but everyone was expected to be ready when practices begin in earnest on Aug. 17. The season begins for both squads in their annual grudge match, the Bear River Battle, on Sept. 2 at Naselle High School.