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Varsity 541 NEWS NOW Residents, pets unhurt following Talent house fire ... Emergency services, Sept. 9 ... Climb to the upper world of Mount Bailey ... Residents, pets unhurt following Talent house fire ... Emergency services, Sept. 9 ... Climb to the upper world of Mount Bailey ... PREP FOOTBALL Raye of hope North Medford senior sheds pounds but maintains big impact Comment By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Sep. 8, 2016 at 6:35 PM Updated Sep 8, 2016 at 8:18 PM By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Sep. 8, 2016 at 6:35 PM Updated Sep 8, 2016 at 8:18 PM --> A.J. RAYE WHO: A 6-foot-4, 200-pound tight end and defensive end for the North Medford football team. WHAT: Raye was the Black Tornado’s special teams player... » Read more X A.J. RAYE WHO: A 6-foot-4, 200-pound tight end and defensive end for the North Medford football team. WHAT: Raye was the Black Tornado’s special teams player of the week after blocking a punt that resulted in a touchdown. Raye also forced a fumble, stopped two drives on fourth down with a sack and a pass deflection and caught two passes for 16 yards. UP NEXT: Friday, 7 p.m., North Medford at Shasta, Redding, Calif. » Social News Where most football players are more interested in gaining weight and growing bigger, North Medford senior A.J. Raye has taken a different path this fall. An all-Southwest Conference performer on both sides of the ball, the 6-foot-4 standout topped out at around 270 pounds last year to earn second-team honors as a defensive lineman and honorable mention as an offensive tackle. With North Medford going back to utilizing one and two tight ends more this season, Raye took it upon himself to change things up in hopes of returning to his previous position as a tight end with the kind of makeover usually reserved for reality TV. In reasonably short order, Raye is down to 200 pounds this year — Tornado head coach Mike Mitchell believes the total to be even lower — and is feeling better than ever. “I didn’t start off my high school career as being that big,” the 17-year-old said of his weight loss. “My junior year I gained a lot of weight because it just seemed as if we needed a tackle spot and no tight end spot that year. I just decided to make a personal decision to cut weight and see if I could try out for my tight end spot again.” Due to the weight loss, Raye said he’s had to make some adjustments as he re-learns what his body can do, but he’s happy with the initial results. “Definitely my self-confidence is up after losing the weight,” he said. “I feel like I can move around on the field a lot more and run for longer periods of time. I’m definitely working to bring my strength back up this season and within the offseason but I don’t think that’s stopped me from playing that same way I did last season.” In fact, Raye joined senior linebacker Praise Viliamu as being the main disruptors on defense last Friday during North Medford’s season-opening 38-21 win over Fortuna of California. Raye stopped a pair of Fortuna drives deep in Black Tornado territory on fourth down with a sack and a pass deflection, respectively. The defensive end also forced and recovered a fumble and blocked a fourth-quarter punt that led directly to a touchdown by teammate Jonathinn Casaday. “He came to play and made a lot of big plays against Fortuna,” said Mitchell, “and we’re proud of him for that.” For his efforts, Raye was named North Medford’s special teams player of the week. “It was just a very, very good feeling of accomplishment and that nothing could stop me,” Raye said of his active outing, “especially because I was feeling I had a lot of doubts after losing weight. I feel like I’m just proving a lot of people wrong and stepping up in my own game. Those plays were really big for me.” Raye also caught two passes for 16 yards to go with solid blocking with North’s offensive line. Even more will be asked of Raye this week as North Medford looks to start the season 2-0 with a win against Shasta High in Redding, Calif., Friday night. Shasta (2-0) boasts a run-based offense that is averaging 410 yards rushing and 487 total yards. The Wolves are guided by sophomore quarterback Brian Kilgore, who has completed 7 of 9 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Running backs Kyale Muckel (27 carries, 254 yards, three TDs), Vincent Smith (23 carries, 204 yards, three TDs), Diego Casteneda (28 carries, 170 yards, one TD) and Conner Coughren (20 carries, 127 yards, three TDs) give Shasta plenty of options on the ground. For Raye, a big key to Week 2 will be in North Medford’s ability to maintain the same upbeat, steady approach that helped the Black Tornado deny Fortuna, which took a 21-18 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter. “It was actually really nice to feel everyone’s energy at the game be just as positive at the end as it was in the beginning,” said Raye. Part of that influence, however, comes from Raye himself. He remained active throughout and was as happy as anyone when his teammates were making big plays alongside him. “He’s a good kid, everybody likes him,” Mitchell said of the senior. “He’s just one of those guys in the locker room that’s a good, important guy for us. He plays with his heart, and that’s why I still love high school football because so much of it is not who you are but how you play.” For his part, Raye said: “I think the energy you put into other people is the energy you get back. I feel like they’ll be celebrating with me when I make those plays.” Those plays by Raye now just have a little different flavor, with speed and agility overtaking brute force to get the job done. “The biggest adjustment for me would probably just be cardio, lots of cardio and just moving around differently,” he said of playing a different role in 2016. “Looking back on my eating habits compared from this year to last year, I was eating twice as much food with a lot of bored eating and maintaining my weight eating,” he added. “Once I started to lose weight it came off very easily, just like I felt it should’ve been. Because it came on so fast, it came off just as fast, and now I feel really healthy and really happy in my own body.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Sep. 8, 2016 at 6:35 PM Updated Sep 8, 2016 at 8:18 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction Schedules & Events --> Recent Scores --> Prep Notebook Kris Henry Challengers make it back on top in softball Winning the Southern Cascade League title seemed like a pretty bold goal this spring considering the recent history of the Cascade Christian... 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