Championship win gives football athlete desire for repeat victory
Raytrevius Peterson finds it a little hard to describe the feeling when his team won the Muscogee County Middle School City Championship last year. Not one to spend much effort on talking, Peterson, 13, however, does come up with one word to sum up the experience.
“Awesome,” he says, smiling broadly.
The Richards Middle School football team won the championship defeating East Columbus Magnet Academy in the finals in December. It was a sweet victory for Peterson for several reasons, including the fact that his cousin was a coach for ECMA team.
“He had them kind of focused on me. I like embarrassing people out there and it was good when we got the win,” Peterson says.
The championship game sealed an undefeated season for the Warriors. Peterson was the starting running back for Richards the entire season and saw a lot of playing time heading into the playoffs. He might not expend much energy in conversation, but the 5’5” 126-pound athlete seems to be nothing but energy and action on the gridiron.
“He’s quick. That’s for sure,” says Richards head football coach Jonathon Burton, who has only been the head football coach at the school for a little over a year.
A prime example of the young athlete’s talent was the Warriors game against Veterans Memorial Middle School last fall. Peterson rushed for over 200 yards and racked up four touchdowns before the final score put Richards in the winner’s column.
“It was definitely his break-out game. He played every game for us and was at cornerback on the defense at times, but that game was his best,” says Burton.
Although Peterson has been playing football since the age of seven when he began with the Columbus Youth Football league, he only began playing football at Richards in the seventh grade. With the agility and speed of a natural running back, it is a little surprising as to the reason Peterson deliberately waited a year before trying out for the team.
“I just didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. Playing in CYF is really different than in middle school. When you get here, they don’t just give you a spot. You have to go after it, and I just didn’t think I could make it,” he says.
Possessing a somewhat quiet and reserved personality, Peterson credits his mother with instilling in him the courage to try out for football. Not wanting to disappoint her, he was nevertheless a little apprehensive about the tryouts but says he felt comfortable once he got on the field.
According to Coach Burton, Peterson is a coach’s dream athlete.
“He’s what we all want to see out here. He will do whatever you tell him and do it well. He never stops. He never complains. He’s smart and very capable. He has talent and ability, but he is willing to do whatever it takes for the team. One of the best things about his football talent is he has great vision,” says Burton. Adding, “He is able to see blocks and plays before they even develop. He is also a young man who is serious about his craft and strives to be better daily; but being coachable and doing the little things that count, his maturity level is an asset as well.”
Peterson was a two-sport athlete for his seventh-grade year. He played football the first semester and was a track and field athlete during the second semester. It was his first endeavor running track as a member of the Warriors’ 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter relay teams. Running second leg in both events, Peterson gained more discipline as a runner and views that experience as an opportunity to stay in shape for football.
The season for middle school football begins in October, and the potential for the Warriors to make another run at the citywide championship looks good. Burton lost his quarterback to high school and has plans to use Peterson in that position some, but will most likely utilize the speedster once again as his primary running back.
It is Peterson’s favorite position to play, but he admits he just wants to be out on the field wherever the coaches tell him to go. He is looking for some sixth-graders to rise to the occasion, fill in the blanks made by the loss of every starter on the team other than Peterson, and help the effort to go back the winner’s circle one more time.
Asked if he thinks another championship trophy could be in the works for RMS, Peterson once again puts his thoughts into simple wording.
“I know we can,” he says.
Peterson hasn’t made a decision about where he will attend high school next fall. He is a part of the International Baccalaureate Programme at Richards and chose to attend the school for that reason. His biggest smile comes when asked if his mom has her own version of ‘no pass, no play’ rule at home.
“She sure does. She always is asking me about my school work. She’s a single parent, and I don’t want to do anything to add any more stress to her life, so I try to work hard and keep my grades up.”
According to Coach Burton, Peterson ran the 40-yard dash at a Future Stars Camp last year with a time of 4.9 seconds. Burton says the Richards athlete has improved his time since the 2015 track season and should be even faster on the field this fall.
Columbus Valley/Rising Star/August 2015
Raytrevius Peterson
Richards Middle School
Columbus, GA
By Beth Welch
Photos by Jerry Christenson
