The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Keystone WRnets Kentucky offer
Keystone football player Ryne Shackelford was in class a couple of weeks ago when he got the call every high school athlete wants to receive.
He was offered a scholarship to play football at the next level from the University of Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference.
Ironically enough, Shackelford was in Keystone football coach Don Griswold’s American History class when he asked his coach if he could step out to take a phone call.
There was a familiar voice on the other end of the line, as former Keystone standout tight end CJ Conrad was on the phone. Conrad — a Golden Helmet Award winner — went on to play football for Kentucky and had a brief stint with the Giants. He announced in July he is finished playing football and has returned to his alma mater to become a graduate assistant.
“It was great,” Shackelford said. “I was in school, and I got a call from CJ Conrad. He talked with me and then he gave the phone to Vince Marrow (associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Kentucky) who asked me all these questions, such as my 40 time, my vertical and he told me that CJ had a gift for me. CJ then told me Kentucky was going to offer me (a scholarship) and I was just so excited and awestruck. I didn’t even know what to say at the time.”
That was the first offer that the 6-foot, 175 pound Shackelford has received so far. The sophomore will surely be getting more phone calls like that one as he continues to impress on and off the football field.
“Ryne is a hard-working young man who works hard in the classroom, works hard in the weight room and he’s dynamic on the football field,” Griswold said. “When you have a high-caliber kid in multiple facets like Ryne is, he becomes very attractive to schools looking to make a large investment in a young man in terms of money and time over the course of four or five years.”
After receiving the offer, Shackelford is as motivated as ever to continue to improve his game on a daily basis.
“When I got the offer, I was really excited,” Shackelford said.
“I felt really proud of myself and proud of my parents for putting up with me and raising me to be the man I amnow. It also made me want to work harder to get better so that they don’t reconsider or take away the offer.”
Shackelford comes from a football family. His older brother Jacob plays football at Ashland after a successful career at Keystone. The receiver-quarterback duo of Ryne and Jacob helped lead Keystone to a 9-1 regular
season record in 2019. The Wildcats hosted their first home playoff game in program history. Jacob’s stellar play helped him earn the Golden Helmet and Matt Wilhelm Awards.
“It’s a special family,” Griswold said. “He’s the second of three Shackelfords to be in our program. His youngest brother Zach is an eighth-grader and his brother Jacob won the Golden Helmet last year, so it’s an athletic family. His parents are great people. They are doing a phenomenal job raising great kids, athletes and student-athletes.”
In addition to playing re
ceiver, Shackelford is also a defensive back for Keystone. His big-play ability is on display every week as he averages 21.7 yards per catch. For the season, he has 24 receptions for 521 yards and nine scores.
Shackelford has helped Keystone achieve a 6-0 record this fall and earn a first-round bye in Division IV, Region 14. The fourthseeded Wildcats are set to host 13th-seeded Edison on Oct. 17.
“Our team, we have really great chemistry,” Shackelford said. “We have a whole bunch of returning starters from last year, and we just built upon that. It starts
with the offensive line and (quarterback) Konner (Rodick) makes great decisions. My skill set really blows up when you have to be ready to defend against our run with Gideon Lampron or our whole receiving corps with Evan Maiden, Christian Pataky and Deghan Rigda because they are all great players as well.”
Keystone is staying focused on game preparation, but the Wildcats are also making sure to enjoy the ride.
“We have a lot of fun during practices, but we go hard and we make each other better every day,” Shackelford said.