The 2021 Rams football season has come to an end, and this year’s team finished with an overall 6-5 win-loss record, which is the second-best record in school history. It was a season of ups and downs, but one in which the Rams finished strong with a five-game win streak.

Considering the success of this year’s squad, we thought we’d review each position and offer an analysis of the players’ play. Let’s start with the offense.

Quarterbacks

Nate Herstich 

Josh Nelson

This position group was one of the best on the field in 2021. The Rams had a two-QB system during the season, and both played phenomenal, combining for 44 touchdowns. Both also won conference Player of the Week. Herstich won the honor four times, plus one National Player of the Week. Herstich also had a stretch of five straight games with four-plus touchdowns, and he broke the single-season record for passing yards.

Running Backs

Lebron Fields

Latravious Johnson

Cadence Lampp

This is a young group who had a decent year with a cumulative group rushing total of 949 yards. Freshman Lebron Fields led the way with 563 yards of his own. When the running backs were running well it helped the Rams win.

Offensive Line

Termaine Baker

Antefene Murray 

Tim Weldon 

Antowyne Shaw

Josh Wright

Joe Haner

Along with the quarterbacks, the offensive line was really good in 2021. They were amazing in protecting the quarterbacks in the passing game. They had a rough start to the season allowing a lot of pressure against Thomas Moore University and Georgetown College, but in the remaining games the offensive line played phenomenal, including giving up no sacks against Point University, who had five sacks against conference rival Reinhardt in the previous game. The only reason this unit didn’t score an A+ is the fact that they allowed the sacks and hurries at the beginning of the season.

Wide Receivers

Antonio Strickland

Jaquan Ebron

Matt Travillian

The receivers were stellar and a nightmare for defenses this season. If one was not getting it done, the others were. In fact, Jaquan Ebron and Antonio Strickland both had 1,000-yard seasons, reaching this mark in the eighth game of the season. Matt Travillian had 580 yards receiving. A very impressive group.

Overall, the offense was a solid A-, but there were a lot of empty drives at the beginning of the year and times when the team needed to score, but couldn’t. Despite that, this offense averaged 38.9 points per game, which is very solid

Now, time for the other side of the ball: the defense. The defense was not as strong as the offense, but they stepped up when they needed to.

Defensive Line

Mateus Bassotto

Jackson Charlton-Perrin

Logan Patron

Jayden Campbell

George Payne

Harold Griffin 

Kasean Ridgel

The defensive line was a very strong point on the defense. These guys were mean and physical. Despite missing some tackles in the backfield, they created a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks along with tackles for negative yardage. Logan Patron led this group in tackles while also leading the team in sacks. This is a very bright and talented group.

Linebackers

Demarcus Wimbush

Sam Kirtley 

Bo N’Dalla

Tavarious Corbitt 

Charles Turner-Cox

The linebackers were one of the more experienced groups on the field. They had the top two tacklers on the team in Demarcus Wimbush (63 solo tackles) and Sam Kirtley (47 solo tackles). The issue with this group was that while they were making tackles, they were making them too far up the field allowing for 4-5-yard gains. If they got their hands on opponents, though, they were going to make the tackle.

Defensive Backs

Kedarrius Phinazee

Ryan Smith

Travis Clinch

Daniel Danso

Tri’Mayal Cash

Marek Banks

Mykkel Banks

This was one of the hardest-hitting groups on the field, but they also gave up a lot of deep completions to opposing receivers. Third downs were crucial this year, and the defensive back gave up too many passes down the field on third down. The defensive back position is one of the hardest positions on the field, and this group did get a lot of interceptions, but still gave up too many third down conversions.

Overall, the defense earned a grade of a C. There were a lot of times the defense gave up too many points, but other times where they stood out.

The last unit — special teams was phenomenal and probably the most consistent group all year long.

Kickers and Punters

Joey Dales 

Tanner Griffith

This group was stellar. Joey Dales ended the season with five Player of the Week awards and one National Player of the Week honor. He kicked a solid 90 percent on the year. Tanner Griffith had a great year punting, including a bomb of a punt that landed on the two-yard line to set up a clutch safety against Union University. This group produced when they needed to.