MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week: Central Catholic football

They huffed and they puffed, but after 60 years the Central Catholic (Portland) Rams finally blew the championship door wide open.

Powered by 196 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Ryan Nall, the Rams won their first Oregon state championship since 1953 with a 38-28 6A title-game victory over Jesuit Saturday at Jeld-Wen Field.

Central Catholic had been knocking at the door, according to Oregonlive.com, losing seven times at the quarterfinals or deeper since 1999.

But these Rams, led by a high-powered offense that scored 764 points (54.6 per game), finished 14-0 and won the ever-elusive championship in the state’s largest division.

For their perseverance and historic title, the Rams were the obvious choice as MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.

"It is very humbling," said Central Catholic coach Steve Pyne. "It has been 60 years since the last one, we have had lots of tries and put in a lot of work. We have a lot of alumni who are very happy, proud coaches and the players are very excited. We will enjoy this for a while and then it's back to work."

The Rams piled up 320 yards on the ground, including 10 carries for 78 yards and a score from Cameron Scarlett and five carries and 51 yards by Aidan Wilder en route to the victory.

Defensively, Central Catholic intercepted three passes, two by Aaron Washington and one by Nall.

"Physically, (Nall) has the whole package," said Pyne. "The physical piece is obvious because he is able to run the ball really well. He's such a good leader for our team and he is a quiet leader."

"Ryan is able to involve other players and gets the players on his team to play better. He has an outstanding attitude all the time. In our championship game he had a fumble and when he came off the field, he looked at me and said, 'Man, that kid made a great play on me.' Most players would have been angry or upset, but Ryan respects his opponents and has fun playing the game."

Opening with a 55-14 win over Grant and following up with a wild 59-49 victory over Sheldon, indeed the Rams were off and running — literally — en route to their landmark season. They scored at least 41 points in all but two games, broke 50 eight times, 60 five times, 70 two times and topped out with an 83-49 semifinal win over Tigard when Scarlett (15-356-5) and Nall (14-320-4) each surpassed the 300-yard rushing mark.

The Rams piled up 678 yards rushing in that game (18.32 per carry) and finished with a season-high 780 yards overall.

Quarterback Aidan Wilder was 6-for-11 for 102 yards and a touchdown in that game.

For the season Nall and Scarlett were spectacular, each surpassing the 1,600-yard mark. Nall led the way with 1,684 yards and Scarlett with 1,640. Each, poetically, rushed for 22 touchdowns. Wilder also rushed for 12 touchdowns.

Even though the Rams were primarily a running team, Wilder was more than efficient, completing 131 of 204 passes for 2,148 yards with 27 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He spread the ball around beautifully as four different receivers had 20 catches, led by senior Zach Davis (35 catches, 645 yards, 9 touchdowns) and Scarlett (33-674-7).

Nine different defenders had at least 40 tackles, led by junior Matt Vanoudenhaegen's 73 and 65 from junior Tyson Cooper. Ronnie Rust led the team with seven sacks and Washington had 10 interceptions. No one else had more than two.

Kickers George Kapellakis and Emmett Dooney shared PAT duties, which was a major undertaking. Dooney made 54 of 58 and Kapellakis was 45-for-47.

This was only the second time since 2004 under coach Pyne that the team had amassed 10 wins. The other was in 2011 with a 10-3 campaign. During that stretch, the team had won at least eight games nine of 10 seasons. But 14 was a major improvement.

"We had a really good group of kids with lots of talent and they had great chemistry together," said Pyne. "What we did differently — that stood out to me, that had to do with the National Guard — was that during our first week of daily doubles we took the whole team out of town and went and visited a National Guard base for a week. This solidified our team chemistry because we were all hanging out together, bonding, and making great memories."

MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Oregon Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at ORteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.