SHELBY — When Blaine Bowman rewrote the Shelby football receiving record books in 2021, he knew it was going to be short-lived.
Behind him was a tall and skinny receiver by the name of Issaiah Ramsey who had every natural athletic gift in the book. He could catch, he could run, he could jump and he was incredibly fast. So, when Bowman graduated and spent a year at Walsh University, he was well aware that when Ramsey became the No. 1 receiving option, there would be no holding him back. Wholesale Plastic Pillow Block
Fast forward to last week, Ramsey and the Whippets were hosting Van Wert in the Division IV Region 14 semifinals and an offensive explosion occurred and Ramsey was right in the thick of it. He finished with 11 catches for 247 yards and a touchdown. Possibly the best performance of his career, Ramsey is now the only receiver in Shelby football history to record 3,000 yards in a career topping Bowman's previous record of 2,883. Ramsey now has 3,086 yards in four years.
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"It is pretty awesome considering he has played with a couple of different quarterbacks and has done so many good things with his leadership and play-making ability," Shelby coach Rob Mahaney said. "His leadership over the last two years has been crucial to our success. This year, some of that pressure was relieved, but it opened up so much for him and he has capitalized. He is a special kid and he is a credit to his hard work with all of the time he puts in. Nobody works harder than him. I am proud of him."
Ramsey has had quite the career for the Whippets. As a freshman, he had just one catch for three years before breaking out as a sophomore with 30 catches for 567 yards and five touchdowns. Last season, he was a 1,000-yard guy with 54 catches for 1110 yards and seven scores. This year, he absolutely exploded with 70 catches for 1,406 yards and 11 TDs.
he has 155 catches which is 17 away from tying Bowman's career receptions record and 23 touchdowns. Bowman has that mark with 35. Ramsey is averaging 19.9 yards per catch and as long as he keeps it above 17.6, he will set the career record in that category topping Carter Brooks's mark from 2014-2017.
Ramsey is just 104 yards away from tying Andre Hill's single-season record of 1,510.
It has been a special senior year for Ramsey, who is fielding multiple Division II and a handful of Division I offers. But it's not because of his individual accomplishments or even the team success that includes a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship and a trip to the Division IV Region 14 semifinals on Friday night. Instead, it is special because he gets to share it with someone he looks up to.
After Bowman graduated in 2021, he spent a year at Walsh University playing football. After the season, he decided to hang up his cleats and continue his academic career. But he never forgot his roots. He returned to Shelby to join the football staff in a limited capacity, but his main focus was helping Ramsey become the best receiver in program history, even if it meant erasing his name from the record books.
"It is great because I watched my own teammate break it my sophomore year and I saw how much hard work he put in to do it," Ramsey said. "Now, he is back here coaching me and helping me break it, I have to give half of the credit to him because he helped me improve my route-running so I am so grateful for the opportunity to break his record."
Bowman watched as Ramsey made breaking his record look effortless even though he knew how hard Ramsey had worked all year to get to this point.
"I don't think it was hard for him just because of his natural ability," Bowman said. "Issaiah has things that you just can't teach. His mixture of height and speed just made him different and now that he has developed as a route-runner and his IQ of the game has grown, it is no surprise to me that he has done what he has done over the last four years."
Bowman and Ramsey grew a tight bond over the last four years but have never been closer. When Bowman went to college and picked up a ton of knowledge about the position, he knew just who could benefit from it the most.
"I learned a lot playing a year in college and being around those coaches," Bowman said. "I wanted to come back and teach him the things that I learned on top of what he already knows. I think it will only help him be ready for the next level because he is going to be a great college football player."
"As a freshman and sophomore, I really focused on his route-running and all of the things he did and now, to have him come back and apply what he knows and has learned to my game, I have improved so much because of him," Ramsey said. "I would come and get in extra work in the summer and after practice and he would help me with all of those little things. It is so great having him on my side."
The two are always talking about football and the little things it takes to be a great receiver. Bowman's phone is regularly buzzing with texts from Ramsey asking questions, pointing out little things on film and picking his brain about what he can do to improve. Ramsey is always looking for ways to get better and Bowman is his go-to guy.
"All the time," Bowman said. "He is always texting me and we are always breaking down videos of different routes and how they should look on certain plays. His interest in getting better is off the charts and with his natural ability and what he strives to be, his potential is limitless."
Mahaney, who coached Bowman during his record-setting season and has coached Ramsey all four years, is proud to see two Whippets working together to achieve greatness.
"Blaine has helped him so much," Mahaney said. "He was such a great leader as a player and Issaiah was in the room with him for two years and soaked up everything. Now, Blaine gets to coach him after a year away at Walsh and is helping Issaiah fine-tune his game and it is only making him more special as a football player. It is so cool to have those guys around each other."
Defense wasn't always one of Ramsey's duties. Normally, they were always centered around returning kicks and catching long passes for touchdowns. But this year, his duties have changed and he is asked to play an important part of the defensive game plan each week. And he has thrived.
He has 28.5 tackles, a forced fumble and three interceptions with the most memorable one coming on the final play of the game in a 37-31 win over Ontario that put the Whippets back in MOAC title contention. And yet, he has time to go out and put up more than 1,400 yards receiving.
Balancing all of those roles has not been easy, but Ramsey has had practice doing it in the past.
"I was always on special teams as a return guy and it was a task to balance all of that so I think I have had that experience," Ramsey said. "I was taken off of that this year as my role defensively grew, it is just like balancing everything I have done in the past. It is a lot of running, but the conditioning the coaches put us through really helps."
Mahaney is a coach who thrives on putting his best players in the best positions to help his team win and that's why Ramsey is a two-way player.
"He has to be a two-way guy for us and play corner at a high level," Mahaney said. "We will always put him against the opponent's best player and a lot of our defensive success hinges on how he executes for us. He has done a tremendous job all season and when you look at the number of snaps he plays, it's amazing. If we had the GPS and mileage trackers, he would be up there among the top guys in the state. It is a credit to him and what he does. He is a special kid, man. and I am very fortunate to coach him."
Wholesale L ARM And who wouldn't feel the same way? Coaching a record-breaking player is a coach's dream and Mahaney's dream came true when Ramsey stepped on the football field at Shelby.