Remember the Rams

Anyone who’s laced up the cleats in high school knows that friendships and teams are forged in that first year of freshman football. Moving from the playgrounds of middle school to the Friday Night Lights (well actually more like Tuesday or Wednesday) – it’s where kids learn what they’re made of.

And boy does Riverside High School have something brewing.

The freshman football team for the Rams went 7-0-1 this year, which, according to Head Coach Randy Miller, is first time that the team has gone undefeated in recent memory.

“You’d have to go back a long ways if there was a team,” he said.

Miller first came to Riverside in 1991 and coached middle school football before leaving for Royal City for a few years and then returning back to the area to take the reins of the freshman team.

Coming into this year, Miller knew he had a decent team on his hands but didn’t expect the level of success that they had.

“We didn’t expect them to come together like they did,” he said.

Miller pointed out that they had the communication of a varsity squad, and it certainly showed as the Rams averaged 28 points per game during the season.

“Which is phenomenal for a freshman team,” said Miller.

For the Rams, that was normal; beating opposing teams by a couple of touchdowns was normal as well.

“Everybody had a key position with the team, I could substitute kids without having weaker play,” said Miller.

Freshman football is also the time where the coaching staff has to instill a work ethic into the players, said Miller, who hopes that his players also try their hand in either wrestling or basketball during the winter.

“This is when they find out that they’re going to have to work on their own in the offseason,” he said.

Setting goals and showing commitment are also other things that the coaching staff tried to instill into the players. While the team wasn’t an exceptionally large class physically, they certainly have the opportunity to grow into their shoes, according to Miller.

“There are a couple kids that will get varsity playing time next year,” said Miller.

Another factor for the success of the team was the guys in the trenches. When you can control the line of scrimmage, you can usually control the game.

“They had a lot to do with it,” said Miller, who emphasized how well they picked up the footwork of being linemen.

Along with playing their normal Great Northern League 2A rivals, with the exception of Clarkston, Riverside also scored key victories over the JV squads of Chewelah and Springdale, which could show things to come for the class that will soon be playing on the A-squad for the Rams.

“You want it to kind of go that way but it’s a matter of the kids committing to the program,” said Miller on the prospects of this team being a dominant varsity class. “They’ve got a good shot at making the state playoffs and maybe even the state finals.”

The last time Miller remembers a freshman team being close to this good was when this year’s group of seniors were just fresh to high school. That squad had only one defeat.

“I’d love to go back and see those two teams play because that would be a battle,” said Miller. “It’s been great coaching these kids. It’s only begun.”

Story by Brandon Hansen. You can reach him at brandon@htsports.org .