Ritenour Sr High School

The Ritenour Huskies will look to right the ship after suffering a lopsided defeat at the hands of the Kirkwood Pioneers last Friday night. The Huskies suffered a 66-22 defeat that forced them to do some self-reflection. “Our guys felt embarrassed after last week’s game, but we assured them that they could bounce back but would need to lock-in at practice and increase their effort to do so,” said 5th-year head coach Yarmon Kirksey. Kirksey reassured the team that the early-season defeat was not the end of the road. “We told our guys that it’s not about how you start, but instead how you finish,” said Kirksey, “and we hope that they took the message to heart and will come out with a different mindset as we move forward and play Jennings this Friday night.” The Huskies will take the short trip to Jennings High School, where they will be on the road looking for their first victory of the 2026 season. The Huskies have a plethora of Class of 2027 seniors who will be major contributors this season, starting with senior signal caller Anthony Odom. Odom, considered one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the class of 2027, will look to best his 2025 junior year campaign, where he threw for nearly 2400 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago. “Ant(hony) is poised to have a big year and we will count on him to make the right plays and lead our offense,” said 5th-year offensive coordinator Dwayne Kirksey. In addition to Odom, the Huskies will also have junior running back Will Brooks and sophomore Khai Cooper to lead their backfield in a double-headed running attack. “Both of our running backs can be explosive with the ball in their hands.” Odom showed off his legs last week with a 49-yard touchdown scamper on a quarterback scramble. The Huskies will also look to get the ball into the hands of the senior wideout playmakers, Monterey Banks and Marcus Allen. But for the Huskies to have any success, they know that it must start up front with their offensive line, anchored by senior Nolen Elder and juniors Xavier Kirksey and Nate Anderson. “We have to be able to impose our will and to do so we must be able to dominate up front, said D. Kirksey. Defensively, the Huskies, much like their offense, will rely on their Class of 2027 seniors to get the job done. Senior safety Luster Matthews and senior linebackers Dillon Williams and Daniel Stokes will anchor the Husky defense. “We have 3 seniors that we will count on to show up big for us and bring the other guys along with them,” said Y. Kirksey. The Huskies’ defense was under attack last week as the Pioneers put up 66 points with over 300 yards on the ground and nearly 200 yards through the air. “Last week was tough and it’s not who we are and so we know that we have to be better moving forward to help give us a chance to win,” said senior safety Luster Matthews. Alongside Matthews, Williams, and Stokes, the Huskies will also look for others to contribute, including first-year varsity starter, junior Aaron McKinney. What McKinney lacks in size, he more than makes up for in toughness. “Aaron is someone that we’re going to count on this season and we expect him to be a big part of what we will do on offense,” said Y. Kirksey. Due to the extreme heat this week, the kickoff for Friday’s game has been pushed back to a 7:00 kickoff at Jennings High School. Jennings will be looking to push to a 2-0 start after a 22-14 win over the Bombers of John Burroughs High School. The Warriors are riding high and will look to play the role of underdog and hand the Huskies their second consecutive loss. “Jennings is a well-coached team that plays hard so we cannot take them for granted and we have to come out and establish our will and style of play from the jump,” said Coach Y. Kirksey. We are looking forward to a great game and want Husky Nation to make the short trip to cheer the team to victory. Go Huskies!!