Regis Rams 2016 State Champs

By Andrew Hawley

In 2016-2017, the Regis Rams football team won the 2A state championship. The starting QB was Bryce Piete, who led them to an 11-2 record. They had 29 players who all worked hard, fought hard all year, and achieved the big goal of winning the state title. The coaches were also a big part of the season; the head coach was Kyle McGrath, and the assistant coaches were Jeff Wiltsey and Scott Rooney.

The Rams started the year with a win against Blanchet Catholic 14-13. Their second game didn’t go as planned and they lost to Dayton in a close game 13-16. In their next two games, they won one and lost one 48-0, 14-20. The year didn’t start how they wanted, going 2-2 (a rocky start), but that wouldn’t stop the Rams. After the first two losses, they knew they needed to change.

In the next five games, the Rams dominated, winning all of them and getting themselves a playoff spot for the 2016 OSAA playoffs. They played Kennedy after their second loss and beat them 15-7, making them 3-2. After that, they played Oakland, Central Linn, and Santiam, beating them 36-0, 41-0, and 35-0, with goose eggs in them all thanks to the defense. Their last regular season game was against St. Paul and the Rams beat them 27-7. 

Regis had three playoff games they had to win before the championship. Their first game was Monroe and the final score was 42-20 moving them on to the next round. In their next playoff game, they played St. Paul, and the Ram’s defense stopped the Buckaroos’ in their tracks and then the offense ran away with the game 50-0, beating them both the regular season and playoffs. in the last of their playoff games, Regis played Heppner and won 27-6, getting them into the championship. They had to work hard the next week in practice if they wanted to win the big game.

Regis came a long way from the beginning of the year and worked hard to get to the state championship. They played Stanfield Tigers both teams went out and battled for the title and to get themselves a ring. In the end, the Rams came out on top, putting all they had into the game a beating Stanfield 53-14. The Ram’s defense held the Tiger’s offense to 14 points and 223 yards and got three interceptions. The Ram’s offense had 343 yards, 198 rushing yards and 173 passing yards. They also had six passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. The Rams now have the 2016 state championship banner in the gym so everyone can see it and It was the first football state championship since 1987.