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The 1973 Bengals were the first team since the Tyees to call the Tacoma region home and virtually exploded onto the scene behind the strong arm of Bill Donckers.  The former San Diego State star led an expectedly weak expansion team in tearing up the NIFL.  It took a concerted effort by the entire league forming the All-Stars to finally upset the Bengals in the finale.  Harold Montgomery had a team-high 4 rushing TD's on Oct 28 versus Skagit Valley.  Doug Jansen earned player of the game honors in the Can-Am Bowl by intercepting 2 passes, one for a TD and recording 7 tackles.  Ira Hammond set a TD receptions season record with 14 on 801 yards.  Donckers finished with nearly 1,800 yards in the air 24 passing TD's, 3 rushing scores and caught a TD pass from his tight end.
 
The 1974 edition got a boost on Aug 24 when Bob Furguson fresh from being cut by the LA Rams, locked down the linebacking corps.  Two weeks later, Bill Donckers returned from Oakland Raiders camp, Ira Hammond returned from the Redskins camp and the Bengals began ripping through the league being stopped only when Bob Cason's 4 TD passes forced a Cavaliers-Bengals tie.  53-year old Dick Barnes opened the scoring with a 23-yard FG when the Bengals tripped again and lost to the All-Stars 12-6.  Ron Baines took the reigns at QB on Sept 28, and Ira Hammond scored 4 TD's when Donckers went down with an injury.  Former UPS tight end Mike Oeschner played defensive end after graduation.
 
In 1975 the season started with a loss and could have been a bad omen for the Bengals.  However, salvation arrived in the form of Mark Cahill.  Cahill, a backup to Steve Bartkowski at Cal, left school and proceeded to rip apart defenses in the NIFL to the tune of 125 completions on 231 attempts for 1,938 and 26 touchdowns in 7 games.  Mario Menconi became the go-to receiver reeling in 12 TD passes on the season.  Following the 1975 season, the Bengals formed a team Hall of Fame with four inductees. Roy Bogrand, first coach of the team led the inaugural squad to the NIFL Champoinship.  Bill Donckers, QB finished racked up 2,634 yards on 164 of 313 passing, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2 seasons while floating amond NFL training camps.  Ira Hammon, holding of eleven team receiving record and a regional record 14 TD receptions in a season, and another NFL training camp invitee.  Bob Ferguson, leader of the "F-Troop" defense dealt nine shutouts in two seasons and 27 consecutive quarters unscored upon.  The former University of Washington linebacker (1969-1972), went on to work with the Seattle Seahawks in player personnel and spoke at the banquet.
 
The 1976 Bengals were a steamroller of a team which shut out 8 opponents and gave up only 57 points in 12 games.  Ron Baines hauled in 4 TD passes on 6 for 78 yards receiving against Skagit Valley upping his total to 10 on the season.  The following week only 19 Lakers arrived forcing a unique timing decision.  Two 19-minute quarters were played followed by one 15 minute running-clock quarter to try and cut down on injuries.  The Vikings opted to forfeit it's playoff game with the Bengals sending Pierce County to the Championship against the Burien (Sea-Tac) Flyers where they won 7-0.  Baines was named Player of the Year.
 
In 1977 against the Fort Lewis Warriors the two teams set a record for penalty yards as both teams were flagged 26 times for 317 yards.  Pierce County accounted for 15 yellow hankies.  Following the season, Pierce County was invited to play in San Jose, CA, in the first annual Holiday Bowl against the San Jose Tigers and a shot at the West Coast Championship.  In a thrilling finish, the Bengals took the crown from the California League Champions with a stunning 28-27 victory on an improbable hit by cornerback Mike Nelson who dislodged the ball which was scooped and scored by Larry Smith from 66 yards out with 25 seconds to go in the game.  This followed a 79-yard drive by the Bengals offense to score with 1:23 remaining in the game.  San Jose had one last gasp for the win but the snap on the FG try was high with 2 seconds remaining.  Earlier, Ken Baines had blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety and Mark Cahill tossed for 234 yards and a TD on 18-of-37 passing to cap the undefeated  season.  Cahill finished with 19 TD passes (119/275/1864 yds) including 7 to Ron Baines (34/640 yds). Pro Football Weekly Magazine named Pierce County the National Champions of Minor League football.
 
The 1978 Bengals felt the sting of their first loss to a regular-season league opponent in 5 years when they dropped the season opener to Burien 14-3.  They literally "gave" the game away turning the ball over seven times.  '78 was also the first time a Bengal team had a stable of quarterbacks to choose from using a steady rotation of Dan Graham, Jeff Smith, and Lonnie Berger who played most of the Burien game with blurred vision after taking a forearm that penetrated inside his facemask.  Ron Baines left as regular Bengal receiver to take the reigns as defensive coordinator in '78.  The Oct 28 playoff battle with the Seattle Cavaliers was an epic comeback as the Bengals trailed 20-2 at the start of the fourth quarter.  In a matter of 7 1/2 minutes the Bengals scored 3 touchdowns, converted a fake punt on the drive for the second TD, and Loren Mulkins blocked a Cavalier punt that was recovered on the Cavalier 20 prior to scoring the final TD.  The game wasn't over yet.  With 2:05 to go the Cavaliers had one last chance but a 22-yd FG try fell short.  The Bengals weren't so lucky the following week in the championship as the Flyers used Mark Kreutz's three INT's to thwart the Bengals offensive firepower.  A return trip to the Holiday Bowl in San Jose saw the Tigers exact their revenge with a 43-13 verdict.
  
Mark Conrad, released by the Seahawks as a punter in August, booted a 47-yd FG with :02 left to tie Spokane in the NIFL Championship, then added a 34-yarder in the 13th minute of sudden death OT to win the game for the Bengals and complete an undefeated 1979 season.  The Chambersburg Cardinals attempted to schedule the Bengals to fly out to Pennsylvania for a 1979 "National Championship" game but failed to raise the $25,000 estimated travel expenses to fly the Bengals out in November.  When the final polls came out, the Bengals were the only remaining undefeated minor league team and Pro Football Weekly Magazine rewarded the club with their number one ranking and a mythical national championship.  He went on to set a Northwest record, 64-yard field goal in a 58-0 rout against the Seattle Cavaliers on Aug 23, 1980.

Most of the '79 squad returned with the exception of all 3 QB's.  Harshman announced that former UPS signal caller Ivy Iverson had won the job prior to the 1980 Jamboree.  The Bengals ran through the league once again and the undefeated Bengals were tasked with another trip to California for a shot at the West Coast crown.  Spotting Twin City a 14-0 lead, Pierce County fell short on the rally with the Cougars surviving 28-23.  This was the third time in four years the Washington champs traveled to California.  No California team had ventured north to attempt a win on the Bengals home field in the history of the franchise.
 
Steve Levensellar was selected to play defensive back in the Minor Professional Football Association All-Star game in New Orleans where he shined again tallying two of the West teams five interceptions.  He would sign a contract with the Edmonton Eskimos in spring of 1980. Levensellar set return records in 1980 that still stand over 30 years later.  Nose guard Loren Mulkins was also selected to play in the January 1981 All-Star game in New Orleans, a five-year veteran Bengal player.

Steve Harshman announced his retirement to focus on his coaching duties at Liberty High in Issaquah and Steve Skelley was tabbed to take over.  However, Skelley was hired away by Portland State and as a result, Ed Bemis called Ron Baines and offered him the top spot even though Baines was also going to be pulling double-duty entering his second year as head man at Stadium High.  Baines was the first black head coach hired by the Tacoma district and Bemis received permission to hire him to coach the upcoming "short" season for the Bengals.

A split in the 1981 league structures, shut downs of the Flyers and Golden Hawks resulted in the Bengals being left out as the rest of the Pacific Northwest league members formed their own league under the Northwest Football Alliance banner.  The Bengals, the last member remaining in the Pacific Northwest League played the Oregon City Steelheads on four occasions to salvage the season prior to traveling to California where the remnants of the Bengals were dismantled 65-13 by the National Champion Twin City Cougars.  With the team losing 35-0 and Bengals quarterbacks intercepted four times in the first 27 minutes of the half, Coach Ron Baines inserted himself at QB passing 10 of 15 for 130 yards, 2 TD's and the fifth INT of the game, falling far short of rallying Pierce County.  This marked the end of the Bengals franchise and players scattered to other teams around the Puget Sound.  Ken Baines and Phil Pompeo found their way along with other Bengals to the King County Vikings for the 1982 season.  Others retired, at least for the next couple of seasons before the creation of the Auburn Panthers.

The 1973-1981 Pierce County Bengals franchise owns the record for winning percentage among franchises with over 75 games.  Going 88-8-1, Pierce County won an astounding 90.7% of games played.

Mark Cahill, former Bengals QB was named American Football Association All-American QB after leading the San Antonio Charros passing for 2,944 yards on 230 of 454 and 27 TDs.  San Antonio lost to the Chicago Fire in the 1981 AFA playoff semi-finals.
 
Conrad kicked for the University of Puget Sound from 1971-1974 earning Little All-Northwest honors four years in a row for his kicking and punting and was inducted into the UPS Hall of Fame in 2000.

The Bengals name would be rekindled by Ron Baines in 1988 following the shut down of the Auburn Panthers and the Northwest Football Alliance.  Baines would lead the Bengals and later the Northwest Football League as commissioner well into the 2000's.