School: Rawlins
Nickname: Outlaws
Colors: red and white
Stadium: Outlaw Stadium
State championship: 2000
Times worth remembering: The Outlaws were one of the more consistent teams in the 1950s. After dropping out of the “Big Six” in 1953, Rawlins had five consecutive winning seasons, including playoff berths in 1953, 1956 and 1957. The peak of the run came in 1953 and 1954, when the Outlaws were 8-2 and 7-2-1, respectively.
Times worth forgetting: The 21st century started so well for the Outlaws. Then, after a state championship and an undefeated season in 2000, Rawlins hit a seven-year streak of difficulties. From 2001-07, the Outlaws didn’t have any more than one victory in any season and went a combined 6-53, losing 26 times by shutout.
Best team: It’s a tossup between old school and new school. Old school, the 1947 Outlaws finished 8-0-2 and atop the statewide balloting for a mythical title at the end of the season. In 10 games, the Outlaws posted six shutouts and gave up only 33 points the entire season. New school, Rawlins’ only undefeated, untied team and only state championship in the playoff era came in 2000, the culmination of a three-year buildup to the state’s top prize. Led by running back Scott Muir, the Outlaws had one of the most efficient offenses in the state — Rawlins averaged nearly 38 points per game — and rolled past Powell in the 3A title game.
Biggest win: The 2000 title game was Rawlins’ revenge. After years of struggling, including a 1998 season in which the Outlaws went 0-8 against the exact same schedule they faced two years later, Rawlins finally had the chance to be on top. The 39-14 victory over Powell in the title game was anticlimactic, but for the team and the community, the win was cathartic — putting past seasons and three previous championship-game losses in the past.
Heartbreaker: Of Rawlins’ three championship-game losses, the first one in 1974 was the toughest to accept — because of the three, that was the one Rawlins really had the best chance of winning. The ’74 Outlaws were 9-0 heading into the championship and had won their regular-season games by an average of 29-3. But in the title game against East, the Outlaws lost two fumbles inside their own 15-yard line, leading to both of the Thunderbirds’ touchdowns in a 14-0 loss on the Outlaws’ home field. Of small consolation was the 1974 all-state team: Rawlins had eight first-team selections; no other team had more than four and East only had three.