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Following what could be argued as a succesful first full season as the Apple Valley Bucks, due to issues with the Northwest Football League and the two forfeits that occured to close the season, the Bucks set out to reorganize over the summer of 2004. With the formation of the Evergreen Football League, and most of the teams abandoning the Inland Northwest League to join the EFL, the "Rams" were born and would represent Wenatchee Valley. Playing the 2005 season solely on the east side of the state, the Rams were able to recruit better depth to go with the former Buck core players and coaches. Opening 2005 2-1 in non-league primers, things looked rough after a 1-3 start to the regular season. A 4-1 run in the latter half of the season set up a Mavericks rematch where the Rams pulled the upset, much to the delight of the Tri City Knights who gained a shot at the Evergreen Bowl with a win the following week over Yakima. The Knights went on to win the first EFL crown thanks to the Rams, who finished with a win over Columbia Basin to post a 9-win season. Linebacker Kolt Thompson earned EFL Defensive MVP honors while seven others were selected as all-stars. 2006 would begin a 13-year string of playoff appearances for Wenatchee Valley, and the Rams would be come to be regarded as one of the best organizations ever formed in eastern Washington. Running out to a 6-0 start set up the Rams in a battle of undefeateds against the Blue Mountain Stars. Winning by an emotional PAT 42-41, the now undefeated Rams hit the proverbial trap game the following week losing 33-21 to the defending champion Knights. The Rams would string together three more victories including a dominant win over the Knights in the season finale to set up their first playoff game against the Stars. The Stars avenged the loss bouncing the Rams out of the playoffs 34-31. The 2007 season featured 8-wins while three of five losses came by 6 or fewer points. The Tri City Knights were able to halt the Rams in the playoffs. Finishing the 2008 Evergreen regular season with a 6-2 record, the Rams were headed back across the mountains to the west side for an Armed Forces Day celebration at Fort Lewis with new EFL member South Sound Shockers. The Shockers, defending Pacific Northwest Conference champs and GNFA runners-up in 2007 having many active duty soldiers and coaches on the roster, set up the game on base at historic Cowan Stadium. Player and coach introductions prior to the game recognized all current and past military members of both teams which included new head coach Mickey White. The Rams came away with a 24-20 win over South Sound to move to 7-2. The Knights would once again, toss the Rams from the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Wenatchee Valley would finally ring the bell in 2009. With the Evergreen Football League rebranded to the Washington Football League with an expansion of teams from the west side, the Rams lost twice during the regular season to the Shockers and Spokane, but in back-to-back weeks, won the franchise first playoff game over the Shockers and avenged the Spokane loss in the WFL title game. Both games decided by 7 points. The Rams were set up to host their first-ever Greater Northwest Association regional championship versus the undefeated Portland Monarchs of the Oregon Football League. Portland would win the road challenge with the Rams finishing 11-3 and WFL champs. Coach Mickey White would be named GNFA Coach of the Year. 2010 began with a forfeit from a Coyotes team that never quite formed after the Stars franchise relocated to Hermiston, Oregon taking most of the player depth available in the area. Another regular season loss to the Shockers would be avenged in the playoffs once again, sending the Rams to the WFL title game against the Hermiston Hurricanes, previously the Stars. Hermiston would take the crown from the Rams in decisive fashion 40-9 to cap a sweep of Wenatchee on the season. The Rams would make 8-straight league title games from 2009-2016, with the 2010 loss planting seeds that would come to fruition in the seasons to come. The Rams were ready, the 2011 season would be a return to the top of the WFL. Wenatchee overtook Hermiston, defeated Spokane in a close one, but their brother to the north, the Okanogan Commandos, a team the Rams had never lost to (7-0) in franchise history suddenly had a weapon. Steve Stockton, nephew of NBA legend John Stockton set a regional record 86 receptions for over 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season. Okanogan won all three outings against the Rams this year by a total of 15 points, and the only league championship in Commando history. Stockton was GNFA Player of the Year. The Rams would halt the winning streak of the Commandos in week 3 of 2012 with a 15-14 victory before falling to the Pacific League Bellingham by four the following week, The Bulldogs would win the PFL North crown falling to the undefeated Portland Monarchs in the GNFA Regional Championship. That defeat at the hands of Bellingham would be the last loss in the next 17 games for Wenatchee Valley. Another victory over Okanogan in the playoffs led the Rams to a title showdown with Hermiston, taking the crown back 18-13. Mickey Whites' Rams would run the WFL table in 2013 finishing 10-0 and a thrilling title game victory over Spokane 7-6 starting the first of 3-straight Spokane vs Wenatchee WFL title games. Wenatchee would go on to win 4-consecutive WFL titles from 2012-2015, moving to the Western Washington Football Alliance in 2016, appearing in the title game with the Puyallup Nation Kings. The 2014 season was one of contraction in the Washington Football League as Columbia Basin Riverhawks, Commandos shut down, newly formed Lobos did not survive, and Montana's Flathead Monsters were brought in as WFL members for 2014-15. The Rams stumbled against the Waitsburg Elite in overtime in week three 22-21. The Elite were the rebranded Hermiston team under EFL/WFL running back legend Brandon Tate. A following week loss to Spokane kicked Wenatchee back into focus to finish out on a 4-0 run with wins over both the Elite (playoffs) and Spokane in the title game 37-34. The 2015 squad again kept a winning streak alive this time for 18-games in a row. Winning all eight league games and a non-league blow out 72-0 over the Washington Cavaliers, the Rams headed into the playoffs as the clear favorite. Routing the Thunder 63-6, for the third year in-a-row, the Spokane Wolfpack were the challengers, and for the fourth year in a row, the Rams won what would be the final Washington Football League crown. Earning a trip to Las Vegas, the undefeated Rams faced the Joplin Crusaders out of Colorado for the Far West Football Association Rocky Mountain Championship which they won handily 31-12, their first western regional title since a shot at the 2009 GNFA title.
2015 FWFA Rocky Mountain Champions
Flathead left for the Rocky Mountain League, Palouse shut down and the Elite became the Tri-City Rage as a new season dawned. The Rage, Rams and Wolfpack would merge with the WWFA for the 2016 season. with the winning streak on the line, a rising Puyallup Nation Kings were able to pick off the Rams 18-10, the lowest offensive output since a March 21, 2015 game against the Elite. A three-point win over the Rage and a four-point road win over the Ravens in two rounds of playoffs gave the Rams another shot at the Kings in the WWFA title game. But, the Kings had improved and ran over Wenatchee 46-13. For the first time in franchise history the Rams faced a four game losing streak. The loss to the Kings in the title game the year before was added to by a three-game losing streak to start the 2017 season. Retirements of many long-time Ram veterans was partially to blame, but a victory over the Nighthawks was thought to be a spark, however two more losses had the Rams in a position to face their first-ever losing season at 1-5. A win over the Rage and forfeit from the Vikings put the 2-5 Rams in the WWFA play-in game with the Pierce County Bengals. A slim 15-12 win put Wenatchee up against #1 seed Puyallup where the Kings crushed the Rams 51-0, Wenatchee's worst loss in history to end the season. This could have been the end of the franchise, however fortunes turned and Mickey White was convinced to go one more season. The reason being, the Kings franchise was halting operations and Rams were targeted by the Puyallup players as the franchise they wanted to go one more round with. With many players from the west side, practices were difficult, but the talent level combined with the Rams core gave the Valley hope of one more winner. They got it. Opening with a shut-out over the Portland Raiders, and a 40-9 victory over another Portland-area team on the road, 2-0 Wenatchee would set a franchise record 80-0 victory across the mountain at the Lakewood Lions. The following week Wenatchee scored a 63-0 win and the season was rolling. The Raiders would play a tight game in Wenatchee before falling 26-20 in what would be the closest game all season until the WWFA Championship. Facing the Rage for the crown, Wenatchee took the 30-24 championship victory. With the WWFA title in hand, the Rams traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on the Southwest League champion Wasatch Revolution. In a 40-0 rout, the Wenatchee Valley Rams completed one of the best one-year turnarounds in Northwest history claiming the Greater Northwest Football Association 2018 Regional Championship as the best team of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and with the win over Wasatch, Utah as well. the 12-0 finish was the best season in franchise history, linebacker Vikah Lefau set a regional record with 31.5 sacks on the season, including three consecutive weeks of 5 sacks each on his way to co-GNFA Player of the Year honors. Ram coach Mickey White won 94 games from 2008 - 2018 (94-23) won 10+ games five times with only one losing season. His win total is 6th all-time in the Greater Northwest region and holds the regional record for most consecutive league championship game appearances with eight (2009-2016) and is third all-time with eleven consecutive playoff appearances in his eleven years as head coach. White was named league coach of the year six times, regional coach of the year three times, and MLFN AA Coach of the year in 2015. As a franchise the Rams are 7th all-time in victories.
2018 WWFA CHAMPIONS The Rams franchise closed down with the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks, an indoor venture with the AWFC creating a new buzz in the region. It would be nearly half a decade before another team came to the Valley. That team would be the Wenatchee Valley Storm joining the Gridiron Developmental Football League which struggled to get a footing. DO YOU HAVE INFORMATION TO CONTRIBUTE? CONTACT US! (email)
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