Renewed Hope for Rancho High School Football in 2020

Renewed Hope for Rancho High School Football

www.FranchiseSportsMedia.com

Times are changing for the Rancho High School football program, and Rancho faithful are more than ready for it.

13-81. That’s the overall football record of the Rancho Rams in Las Vegas since 2010. It was a decade of awful, gut-wrenching play by a historic and once well-respected High School Football program in Las Vegas. Since graduating former NFL wide receiver and current ESPN Las Vegas analyst Mike Pritchard, Rancho had seemingly lost its identity as a program. But after a 1-9 2019 season that showed significant improvement, a generous donation from the Las Vegas Raiders, and mandated ordinance from the Clark County School District to fix their field, the long-suffering Rams look to turn the corner.

“I think people saw we got better each week.” Rancho High alum and Head Coach Leon Evans said. “Our record didn’t indicate our success, but many individuals had success.”

Over the last decade, the Rancho Rams program could best be described in one word “trash.”

Rancho had become a throwaway program, widely considered the doormat for all Southern Nevada high school football. Five of the last eight seasons, the football team went without winning a single game. It was a trend that stifled support from community residents and alumni alike, with empty stands becoming a weekly trend for followers of the football team.

Last season, Rancho went into the season trying to find any form of “positive.”

The Rams had not won any meaningful games in almost eight seasons. With the average margin of defeat well over 30 points for entire seasons, a 24-year drought in the longest-tenured rivalry in the state of Nevada, the Bone Game, against arch-rival Las Vegas High School, and to add to it, the Rams home field had been decommissioned for safety reasons, forcing Rancho to play every game of the 2019 season on the road.

Controversy aside, Rancho improved their overall play showing a more structured and organized product on the field. The team was actually only a few plays away from a four-win season. A thought that has the school abuzz with anticipation for the future. “People are excited about what could’ve happened last year.” said coach Mike Lugo, who has been with the Rancho football program for three years, coaching the varsity offensive line. “If a couple of plays went our way, it would’ve been different last season.”

This coming year the Rancho program is ecstatic to get started.

Before the COVID19 pandemic, the weight room workouts had already begun. Many of the returning players were ready to get back to football. Over half of the team from last season is returning, including seven players receiving All-conference and some garnering all-state honors. Rancho also added some new additions to the coaching staff, and the 2020 Rancho Rams football team has a chance to come back stronger than they’ve been for over a decade.

Adding to the excitement, a generous $250K donation from the Las Vegas Raiders will give the football program a brand new turf field. Construction has already begun, and the school administration expects the area to open for practice sometime in early June. Collin McNaught, who joined the Rancho Athletic department this season, said that the field is “A home base for the team.” Giving the team a real place to play.

This string of fortunate events has indeed brought excitement to the community; Coach Evans told Franchise Sports Media, “Our Boys deserve it. We can have a true homecoming night, senior night, and a true Bone Game.” As the school year begins to come to a close and the summer camps begin to open up, Coach Evans, his staff, school administration, and the student body look forward to assembling and watching their Rams put their new brand of football on display for all to see in 2020.

People like veteran coach Lugo. “When I got here, the program was in need of some type of structure, and it needed someone to come in and tie up those loose ends. Now people see we’re building an actual program.” coach Lugo told us at Franchise Sports Media, and the feeling is radiating through the community.