Ripon Christian head coach Phil Grams came into the 2026 season needing just two wins to get to 100 total for his career.

It did not take him long to get to the milestone after his team moved to 2-0 with a hard fought 20-6 victory over Stagg of Stockton at Memorial Stadium Friday night.

“I set a goal a long time ago to get to not only get to 100 wins, but to do it before I had 30 losses,” Grams said. He has also coached at Destiny Christian Academy (previously Capital Christian).

“I came into this season with 29 losses, and thanks to this team and this staff I was able to accomplish that goal, which is pretty cool.”

The first-ever meeting between Ripon Christian and Stagg (0-2) was a battle from the opening kickoff in a game that saw the Delta Kings dominate possession and almost every offensive category. Stagg outgained the Knights 345-158 on the night, running 16 more plays than their hosts.

“We had no idea what to expect coming into this one,” Grams said. “We put this game on back when Eric Crocker was the head coach. He reached out and said, hey let’s get something on the books. We said yes, and a week later he took the job at Edison. Credit to coach (Soepter) Mao over there, though; he’s done a great job stepping in, and his kids played tough tonight.”

While the Ripon Christian offense struggled to get going, the defense did just enough to keep the Knights in the game. Delta Kings standout running back Darnell Holmes tallied 170 yards on 21 carries, but each time Stagg moved deep into Knights’ territory Ripon Christian would come up with a big play. The Knights forced a missed field goal on the Delta Kings’ opening possession to go along with four turnovers that included interceptions by Talen Tameling and Stadtler Postma.

“We knew they had athletes over there,” Postma said. “As a unit, we know we are capable of coming up with big plays in key moments, and I think that’s what you saw tonight.”

Postma contributed to perhaps the most pivotal moment in the game late in the second quarter. After a Tameling punt pinned Stagg at their own 1-yard line, the Ripon Christian defense forced a three-and-out. The junior then took the ensuing punt back 38 yards untouched for a touchdown to put the Knights up, 7-0.

“The ball felt like it was in the air for a really long time,” Postma said. “I saw the gunner run by me as I was catching the ball, and I felt my eyes light up seeing a lot of green grass.”

Two drives later, Tameling would again pin the Delta Kings deep inside their own 5-yard line. On the next play, Stagg quarterback Dario Dominguez fumbled while scrambling for the second time in the game as sophomore Elijah Lambdin came up with the key recovery. Three plays later, Tyler Van Elderen (58 yards rushing) plunged in from 3 yards out to put the Ripon Christian team that had not yet recorded a first down on offense up 13-0 at the break.

“I was just trying to put a good foot on the ball,” Tameling said speaking of the field position advantage he helped get his team in the game. “We know things aren’t going to go exactly how we want them offensively all the time, and when that happens it becomes even more important to be better on defense and special teams.”

Stagg finally cashed in on one of its long, sustained drives early in the fourth quarter when Holmes capped a 12 play 95-yard drive to cut the lead to 13-6. Grams knew that his offensive unit that had amassed just one first down and 95 yards of total offense would need to keep the ball away from the Delta Kings to seal the victory.

“We knew the defense was gassed,” Grams said. “We saw a few things they were doing and made some adjustments, and our big boys up front went to work.”

The offensive line did indeed go to work sustaining their own 12 play 80-yard drive that took up nearly eight minutes of game time. Key first down tosses to Van Elderen moved the Knights into Stagg territory and on third and five quarterback Josiah Van Vliet faked a handoff and found Jeremiah Lambdin on a tight end pop pass for a walk in 36-yard touchdown to put the Knights up 20-6 with just 3:12 left in the game.

“It was tough sledding tonight,” Van Elderen said. “Credit to our defense for keeping us in the game, while we figured out how to do just enough to get it done offensively.”

Ripon Christian will look to move to 3-0 next week as it hosts a Calaveras team that will also come in 2-0 after impressive victories over Bradshaw Christian and Balboa of San Francisco.

“We know it doesn’t get any easier next week,” Grams said. “I think we’ve gotten them 6 or 7 times in a row but this is probably their best team they’ve ever had and I know coach Manny Mossa is going to have them ready to play.”