Apaches standout ready for next level

Surrounded by coaches, teammates and family, Keisey Ramirez signed his letter of intent Wednesday, Feb. 5 to play football at McPherson College in Kansas. The versatile athlete helped the Gonzales Apaches to their best regular season in at least half a decade by contributing on both sides of the ball. Ramirez’s play even earned him a spot in the 2020 High School Football All-American Bowl played in Memphis, Tennessee in January.

Apaches offensive coordinator Billie Coplin praised Ramirez as both “hard-working” and “a good senior leader.” Coplin also commended Ramirez for quickly taking to the style of the Apaches new coaching staff. Coplin joined the Apaches coaching staff last summer, before Ramirez’s senior year, as a member of athletic director Mike Waldie’s regime.

“You know, it’s always tough anytime you have a transition of coaching staff your senior year,” Coplin said. “Our seniors did a great job of embracing what we were asking them to do.”

Ramirez will continue his contributions on both offense and defense as he was recruited to play wide receiver and safety for McPherson. Ramirez had other offers from other schools in Washington and Illinois. As for why the Gonzales native decided to head to Kansas, Ramirez said it felt like home to him.

“When we went there to go visit, it’s kind of like a community school, so it felt like at home,” Ramirez said. “It’s not like something big where nobody really knows anybody. You actually see people; you talk to everybody. The coaches were friendly, the players let me know everybody is well connected with each other, so it felt like a good community environment.”

Freshman year will be all about getting adjusted to the changes for Ramirez. He said he would like to study engineering while in school.

“First year, just to try to get adjusted to the environment and being away from everybody and everything that I know,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez wanted to thank both of his parents for “supporting me through everything and my choices and making sure I found the right things.”