From leader to legacy: Dylan Ramirez’s standout senior season at NGU
Ava Henderson, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Robbie Gawrys
After spending his first few seasons on the bench as a backup, learning, growing and developing, he was ready to prove himself worthy of the starting position his junior year. After a decent year, he was willing to prove himself even more in his final season. He did just that, and more, capping off a great career with a great last season.
Senior quarterback at North Greenville University and sports management major Dylan Ramirez ended his already impressive football journey with a historic senior year. This season, Ramirez had 31 touchdowns, 3,217 total yards and only had six interceptions. These stats led to Ramirez making history and becoming NGU’s all-time passing yards leader with 9,679 total yards and the all-time touchdowns leader with 88.
There were a couple big games this season that aided Ramirez in breaking these records. First, at Shorter University, Ramirez was 80% on completions, threw for 375 yards and had four passing touchdowns. He led NGU to a close 35-33 win, keeping them undefeated in conference play as they moved closer to the end of the season.
Ramirez’s leadership and great quarterback play lead the Trailblazers to a 7-5 season but was a perfect 6-0 in conference play. This led them to a berth in the Conference Carolinas Championship.
His next big game came in the Conference Championship versus UNC Pembroke where he led the Trailblazers to a 34-20 win and giving them the first Conference Carolina Championship in 50 years. During this game, Ramirez ran for three touchdowns, passed for one touchdown, had 261 passing yards and was 15-20 on passes.
On this performance, his head coach Nate Garner said, “Watching the time he spent growing and developing pay off in this big game makes me so happy for Dylan.” Garner was only Ramirez’s coach for one season, but he still enjoyed seeing him learn to lead the team to a championship win.
Ramirez also won some individual hardware during his last season. He was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week three times and Conference Carolinas Player of the Year at the end of the season.
While Ramirez is proud of his individual accomplishments, he’s most proud of what the team was able to accomplish.
“My favorite part of my career has to be winning the Conference Carolinas Championship here at home,” Ramirez said.
Winning that game with his guys in front of his home crowd, classmates and family and friends is a special moment he’ll never forget.
His teammates have loved watching him develop as well and even more have enjoyed getting to play with him. Redshirt junior running back Reggion Bennett got to grow and develop beside Ramirez and was very inspired by his skills.
“He’s one heck of a ballplayer and I loved getting to watch him play and play alongside him the last three years,” Bennett said. He said wants nothing but the best for Ramirez in the future.
Bennett said his favorite thing about Ramirez is that no matter what the score is or whether they are just at practice, he’s always dialed in and giving it his all. No matter what, he never gives up, never hangs his head and he is always ready for the next play or next game. That’s one thing that makes Ramirez not just a great quarterback on the field, but a great teammate off the field.
Ramirez said he is extremely grateful for his time at NGU and can’t wait to see what the future holds. He attributes his success to his family, teammates and coaching staff. But most importantly, he gives all the glory to God for giving him the gifts that he has and blessing him with a great opportunity to play football at NGU.
