Raytel Rone won’t be sleeping in on Thanksgiving Day.

At 9 a.m., Rone and his Northside teammates will be hitting the turf at Mayo-Thompson Stadium putting in the necessary work before the Grizzlies travel to Bryant on Friday for the 7A semifinals.

But after Thursday’s practice, Rone knows what he will be looking forward to doing the remainder of the holiday.

“It will be in the morning, so I’ll be able to eat afterwards,” Rone said. “We’ll have plenty of time to eat afterwards.”

Rone, though, has done plenty of feasting on opposing team’s offensive lines and backfields all season long. A two-year starter, Rone (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) is a senior defensive end and leads the team in sacks with 10.

He also ranks third on the Grizzlies in total tackles with 67, and is tied for first in tackles for loss with eight.

“I really feel like I’ve developed since the past two years that I’ve been here. ... Coach (Ryan) Solley (who is in charge of the defensive line), he really prides himself on having the best d-line and I think we do have the best d-line,” Rone said.

Northside coach Mike Falleur pointed out several things which makes Rone stand out on the defensive line.

“It’s his speed,” Falleur said. “He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he’s very strong and it’s almost like a rattlesnake. He punches you and he is fast, he can run.


“And he’s got a motor; the dude plays hard.”

Rone even has seen plenty of action on special teams on the Grizzlies’ coverage units.

“He’s always been on special teams,” Falleur said. “He’s probably made as many tackles as anybody on kickoff coverage, maybe more. ... Really and truly, at most places he would probably be an outside linebacker, he’s not going to be down there with his hand on the ground, but we need him there and he has done an unbelievable job.”

Rone actually did play some linebacker before Solley approached him about switching up front.

“I was at receiver my sophomore year and then they moved me to middle linebacker,” Rone said. “Then coach Solley came over and told me I should come over and play for him on the d-line, so I was like, I’m up for it.”

Rone has turned in some solid performances all season. But he has really turned things up a notch in his last four ballgames.

In that span, he has had at least one sack in each game, including three in the Grizzlies’ opening-round playoff win against Van Buren. Rone also had a sack and three quarterback hurries in last week’s 30-17 win at Bentonville in the 7A quarterfinals.


A reason for his inspired play of late has been coming back from a suspension of undisclosed team rules, which forced Rone to miss the Grizzlies’ game against No. 1 ranked North Little Rock, a game the Charging Wildcats prevailed, 40-3.

“I was there at the game, I was watching my teammates playing and it was just hard seeing the bad loss we took,” Rone said.

But after returning to the field, Rone has played with extra determination and a vengeance.

“I’ve seen a guy that has come back with kind of a re-focused (outlook). ... He’s played really, really well,” Falleur said.

“Raytel has been everything that we expected and maybe a little bit more. He is hard to block.”

The win at Bentonville last week also gave Northside (8-4) a breakthrough after the Grizzlies were defeated in the quarterfinal round each of the previous two seasons.

Rone knows something about clearing hurdles, having competed in the hurdle events as a member of Northside’s track team. Now one more hurdle is left to clear before Rone and his Grizzly teammates can punch their ticket to play in Little Rock for a state championship.

“We had to get over that hump trying to get past the quarterfinals but we did this year, and I have confidence we can get to the finals now,” Rone said.
