By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.-  Ram Mob was read on much of the practice jerseys of the Regis Football players during Tuesday afternoon’s practice at Regis.

It means family.  A brotherhood.  A rallying call almost as they prepare for their Week 1 game against Gaston on the road.

“We’re a mob out here.  We stay together, we stay as a pack,” Noah Koenig describes.  

“It means a family.  It’s friends and family, it brings all the brothers together like a brotherhood,” adds Casey Votlin.

For Voltin, he’s going to anchor the line as a four-year Varsity player for the Rams.  The youngest Voltin, Casey had played with older brother Tyler for two years before Tyler moved on to play for the Oregon State University Football team and pointed to Tyler in helping him become the player that he is today.

“I learn a lot from him.  A lot of the line stuff I use today, I learned from him and him teaching me while we were in the field and it’;s fun playing with your brother,” said Voltin.  “It was pretty cool as a freshman coming here and starting, it’s a smaller school but you got to have talent.  You still have to work hard and put in work.  It’s a nice community.”

Voltin is one of the several returners from their 6-4, 2A State Playoff team.  It was the first time that the Rams made it to the postseason since they won 2A State back in 2016.

Kollin Schumacher, Luke Castillo, Luis Perez, Voltin and Koenig are just some of the names returning as they embark on the adventure of nine-man football.  For Koenig, coming off a dislocated shoulder and a broken nose this past season, he hopes he can bring that same intensity going into his junior season with Regis adjusting to having two fewer athletes on the field.

“I don’t know.  It’s something I’ve been doing since I was little so it just comes second nature to me.  It’s not something I think about,” Koenig said of his physical play.  “It was really nice.  I think it was just another stepping stone and just building our team slowly and this year is going to be good.  We just got to have a positive mindset, things are changing and we’re not the only ones who have come across this river.  But as long as we have a positive mindset  and realize that we’re not the only ones facing this and then we’ll be good.“

The Rams will have their home opener September 9 against Grant Union before kicking off Tri-River Conference play September 16 against Gervais.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald