Oak Grove Football In Australia

By Steve Dooley - 07.31.08

According to former Oak Grove tailback Joey Pepmiller, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. This past summer, Pepmiller and former Oak Grove center, Brandon Skipper, joined 15 other football players from around the state to compete in the annual Down Under Bowl in Gold Coast, Australia.

This is an annual event began back in the '80's in which high school players from across the nation take American-style football to the rugby world of Australia. This year, players from Louisiana joined up with players from Utah to form the team "Loutah".

The competition consists of several teams from across the U.S. with each match set up in 4-team groups which play a single-elimination tournament. Oak Grove was well represented in the "land down under" as Pepmiller led the offensive attack in the first game, scoring the only two touchdowns to lead Loutah to a 20-7 victory. The other six points came on three safeties by the defense, which set a new record.

That victory set up the championship match against players from California and Hawaii. Loutah fell 10-0, but earned the silver medal in their group. Pepmiller earned his team's Sportmanship MVP award given to a player from each team and voted on by the coaches.

"They really liked us," Pepmiller said referring to their Australian hosts. "When they called our name out at the awards ceremony, everyone started chanting 'Loutah'". He also said the Aussies hung around for their championship match and cheered them on. If you can catch up with Joey, he might show some of the pictures he took. One of his favorites is a shot of himself playing with some baby kangaroos. He calls it "Joey meets joey".

After the group left wintry Australia, they made a stop off in sultry Hawaii where they spent a couple of days on Waikiki. According to Pepmiller, Hawaii is really nice but very crowded with tourists. The group got to spend time touring Pearl Harbor, which Pepmiller described as "cool, but eerie".

Back home in the States, Pepmiller and Skipper are getting geared up for more high school football - "gridiron football" as they refer to it Australia to distinguish it from rugby. This time around, though, these two former Oak Grove Tiger players will be enjoying the game as spectators. Both graduated this past Spring after leading their team to a #2 seed and a quarterfinal playoff run. Congratulations mates!