Ritenour's Ray lives up to expectations that come with wearing No. 77
Jersey No. 77 is special to Ritenour football coach Hoyt Gregory.
That's the number he wore as a player at Ritenour and in college. He gave the number to former Wisconsin standout and NFL first-round draft pick Wendell Bryant when Bryant was a freshman with the Huskies.
A few years ago, Gregory handed No. 77 to Edmond Ray.
"When you see 77 out there," Gregory said, "you know it's someone that I appreciate because I don't just let anyone wear it."
A 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive and offensive lineman, Ray lived up to the high hopes that go along with wearing No. 77 at Ritenour during his impressive senior season.
A University of Missouri defensive tackle recruit, Ray helped the Huskies win their first eight games -- the best start to a season in school history -- and the team's 8-2 final record was Ritenour's first winning season since 1988 and best record since 1966.
"It was one of the best records in Ritenour football history. I think it was pretty cool that I got to be a part of that,"Â said Ray, the Post-Dispatch All-Metro football defensive player of the year.
"I was very impressed with the way he handled himself with all the pressure," Gregory said. "I've coached Division I kids before in Texas, and I've seen them not live up to expectations because they were worried about getting hurt before they went to college, but Edmond laid it all on the line."
Ray, who started 33 consecutive games on defense and 30 on offense, was and all-Suburban North first team selection on both sides of the ball. Despite facing blocking schemes designed to keep him in check, Ray racked up a team-high 109 tackles, three sacks and one interception.
"It was a real struggle for him to try to get any pressure on a quarterback," Gregory said. "I can show you video where a guard and a tackle would be on him and a back would chip him on the way out. But that opened up a lot of things for the other people. ... He definitely was a guy they were making sure didn't beat them, but he also had 109 total tackles."
While Ray said he had a pretty good senior season, he notes there was room for improvement. After recording eight sacks as a junior, he was disappointed he had only three this year, though the drop largely was due to the fact he drew double- and triple-team blocking attention.
"I had a lot of tackles, but I wish I could have had more sacks to show my ability to get to the quarterback," Ray said.
Ray finished with 16 sacks in his final three seasons, but he likely would trade all of the statistics and individual honors for the opportunity to have played one more game.
Despite the historic season for the Huskies, who had won seven total games the previous two years, ending the season with back-to-back losses cost Ritenour a playoff berth.
"It is pretty bittersweet," Ray said. "It would have been wonderful if we would have went to the playoffs and then won state. That would have been like a storybook ending."
No doubt, there are more chapters for Ray to write.
