The Valley Rams won the Rugby Oregon Boys HS 7s with two wins in the championship tournament to cap off an 11-0 season.

The Rams went into the weekend 9-0 but still had to win out in the final event at Glenhaven Park in Portland. And with some lineup changes on some teams they could easily have slipped up.

“The kids played really well,” said Head Coach Trevor DaSilva. “It’s tough. Mentally at the field I’m a duck on a pond, all cool and calm on the surface but underneath I am moving a mile a minute.”

Valley took care of Central Oregon 41-10 in their first game, but had to deal with a dark horse team in Clark County. Several of the potential Clark County players missed much of the summer because they were playing select side rugby in Washington state. But with the NAI 7s done, they were around to bolster the Clark County squad, giving them depth and athleticism.

“The big thing for us is that coaches John Mead and I had one player miss just one practice all season,” said DaSilva. “We only had eight guys through the summer but all of the kids were there all the time. They are all very coachable and showed a lot of dedication.”

That coachability came into play on the final day as the coaches watched Clark County’s opening games, a 22-7 win over Eastside and a 19-14 defeat of Three Rivers.

“We saw some tendencies and in the course of 10 minutes changed our game plan,” said DaSilva. “The kids are so coachable that we were able to make those changes and they executed that new game plan.”

The changes were based on the fact that Clark County liked to go wide and beat teams on the edge. So the Rams had their wings gamble by coming up really hard, so even when the ball go wide Clark County’s wings had defenders in their face. With the Valley sweeper providing backup, they were able to contain the Clark County attack.

The other change they made was to get support to the rucks quickly because Clark County liked to poach balls. Once again the Valley Rams responded.

“We got 100% effort,” said DaSilva. “We got some key tackles. Phoenix Homesley made some great tackles. Dawson Tarron was ridiculously fast and Aaron Recindez is big and powerful and tough to bring down. Ty Spurgen didn’t miss a kick, and that was key, too, but it was really a huge team effort.”

With Spurgen getting the kicks a three tries to two tries game ended 21-10 for Valley Rams and an 11-0 record.

Three Rivers ended the summer 6-5, Reynolds 4-6-1, and Central Oregon 4-5. Valley outscored opponents by an average game score of 31-11. 

Final Tournament Results:
Clark County 22 Eastside 7
Central Oregon 12 Reynolds 0
Reynolds 19 Eastside 17
Clark County 19 Three Rivers 14
Valley Rams 41 Central Oregon 10
Three Rivers 21 Central Oregon 15
Valley Rams 21 Clark County 10