The Official Site of the Fighting Saints

“Ramblin’” Ray Ranieri was a stocky 190-pound fullback and basketball guard from Great Falls. After rushing for five touchdowns in 1959, he added five more scores the next season, while helping the Saints to the Montana College Conference co-championship. He finished with 743 yards rushing, averaging 92.8 yards per game and 6 yards per carry. Perhaps his best game came in a 19-7 win over Rocky Mountain, when Ranieri rambled for two long TDs, of 60- and 40-yards. 

He was selected 1960 first team All-Conference and a Small Catholic College All-American. Ray then sustained career-ending injuries in the second game of the 1961 season, versus Northwest Community College. After his helmet popped off having been hit by a tackler, he kept running and took another blow to the head, which knocked him unconscious. Ranieri suffered a concussion and a shattered cheekbone, never to return to the gridiron.