After placing third in last year’s playoffs and finishing a magical Cinderella type season, the West Valley Rams were looking to get to the state championship at the start of this 2017 season. When he was asked what his goal for this season was, Head Coach Trevor DaSilva said, “We want to win the state championship.” This goal would become more and more attainable after every week.

To start off the season, the Rams beat the Bend Blues 26-19. Then the following week, the Rams blew out the Clark County Warriors at home 34-12. The Rams went on to win five more games and finish the regular season with a perfect record. With the leadership of Odin Thorson and Drew Rubado the Rams outscored opponents 241-81 throughout the entire season. This gave the Rams the second seed in the High School Boys Club Championship league only behind the Beaverton Barbarians, who had the same record as the Rams.

In the semifinals, the Rams were matched up against the Northside Panthers from Portland. This was the largest team in the Rams’ league, and when asked who the most difficult team to face was coach DaSilva was quoted as saying, “North(side) Portland.” The Rams had beaten the Panthers earlier in the year 26-21 in their closest game of the season. The playoff game went much better as the Rams rallied to a 40-26 victory, putting them into the state championship against Beaverton.

On May 20,  the state championship game took place at the campus of Western Oregon University. Both teams wore black jerseys and the only distinction between the two teams was the red numbers of the Rams and the orange numbers of the Barbarians. The first half was very lopsided in favor of the Barbarians. The score after the first half was 19-0 and things looked grim for the Rams. Beaverton had controlled the game and attacked almost the entire half, while every time the Rams got the ball it seemed they lost it because of penalties.

The second half was more evenly matched and the Rams came out swinging trying to make a great comeback. The highlight of the game for the Rams came in the second half when one of their backs, Colton Saddoris, came in and crushed a Beaverton player. Another back, Cameron Waller, came in kicked the ball a few yards and picked it up and almost scored a try. However, the Rams couldn’t stop the Barbarians allowing another 19 points in the second half and finishing the game at a final score of 38-10.

After the game Phillip Antonyuk, who was named defensive player of the year, was asked how he felt about the season as a whole, “I feel like this was a very good season. We came together as a team and finished as a team. We may not have come out on top, but we tried our best and achieved our first perfect season.” Come next season the Rams will look to Saddoris, Antonyuk, and Thorson as leaders for another run at state.