DENVER — Denver South High School football is playing with heavy hearts this season after two former teammates recently passed away.
The Ravens play their Homecoming game Friday against Rangeview.
“Homecoming and all that just kind of serves as a reminder, like they should be here with us to celebrate, but they're not,” said Daylen Morrow, a Denver South senior who plays cornerback on the team.
As a freshman, Morrow was a receiver, catching passes from quarterback Trey Palmer.
“He was my best friend,” Morrow said. “I’ve known him since I was about four... All of us still miss him, not only as a football player but as a friend.”
Palmer was a standout player during that freshman season, but was then diagnosed with leukemia. He died in the spring of 2024.
“It was just shock to everyone,” Morrow said. “I'd do anything to get him back.”
Already dealing with that loss, the team faced tragedy again this summer.
Only weeks after graduating from South High School, former player Rayshawn Conner-Coleman drowned at Cherry Creek State Park.
Good friend Avondae Glaspy, a junior wide receiver on the team, says he and Rayshawn were close friends.
“There wasn't a day that we weren’t together,” he said. ”Whether it was on the field, off the field, in school, out of school.”
“I just try to shine for Rayshawn,” he added. “That's it, man. You know, just put it all out there for him.”
Rayshawn’s sister, Anarye, says football was “literally his whole life.” She is now a manager on the team.
“I feel like since my brother died, it would make me feel closer to him, being around a lot of people that he loved, and being around the sport that he loved,” she said.
That is just one of the ways Trey and Rayshawn live on with the team. Their helmets now include decals with the players’ numbers.
Morrow now wears number 9, a tribute to his late friend.
“His dad wore 9 at Air Force when he played, so [Trey] was always number 9,” Morrow explained. “I’ve worn 9 this year, and on on some of the rosters, it puts number 9 as my name and Trey's name, so we could kind of be there together.”
These Ravens have no choice but to be resilient.
“This senior class especially, right? What they've been through with these two losses,” said head coach Ryan Marini. “The lesson that I've always tried to impart to them is: Look, life you can't control…It's about how you react to things and how you help each other through the things that come unexpectedly.”
Marini, now in his 10th year as head coach of the program, says delivering that message has unfortunately gotten easier with experience. South football player Davarie Armstrong was shot and killed at a party in 2020.
Now, Marini and this team try to move forward, dealing with grief that put wins and losses on the field into perspective.
“We all want to win the state championship, would be awesome, but what we've been through has put us to something where we're we've learned to be family no matter what,” Marini said. “I think there's a lot of great coaches in this state who build families, but definitely we believe we're one of the best, tightest families out there.”
