Camas lifts interim tag, announces Jack Hathaway as head football coach after league title, quarterfinal run

Camas High School athletic director Rory Oster didn't wait long after the football season ended to lock in his program's coach of the future.

Interim coach Jack Hathaway accepted the job as head coach days after the conclusion of the Papermakers' season, which finished with an outright 4A Greater St. Helens League title and a playoff run that ended Saturday in the 4A state quarterfinals, the school announced on Twitter Wednesday morning.

Hathaway, who lives near Doc Harris Stadium in Camas, was named interim head coach in June after Jon Eagle left to join Bruce Barnum's staff as an offensive assistant following the pandemic-shortened spring football season. He retained eight starters and Eagle's entire staff, but faced a schedule that opened with four Oregon 6A (big-school) state powers Central Catholic, Clackamas, Jesuit and West Linn.

“People ask about pressure, and yeah, there’s pressure, but who wouldn’t want that?” Hathaway said in August. “Bring it on. … like any other year, we have a target on our backs.”

After an 0-4 start against the Oregon schools, Camas mounted a seven-game win streak that included an undefeated sweep to an outright 4A Greater St. Helens League title and a run to the 4A state quarterfinals. On Saturday, 5-seeded Camas' season ended with a 35-14 loss to 4-seed Kamiakin.

The news even drew a ringing endorsement from Eagle, Hathaway's predecessor who tallied a 127-22 record, nine league titles, three state championship appearances and two 4A titles in 13 years as head coach. Hathaway was an assistant on Eagle's staff at Camas for seven seasons.

"Great decision---well done, Jack! Keep 'em rollin'!" Eagle wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning.

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(Lead photo by Ken Waz)