Richland 200: No. 4 Shelby's Brayden DeVito working on lasting legacy, building leadership

SHELBY — Before Brayden DeVito even entered his kindergarten year, he loved football.

The summer before even beginning school, he signed up for flag football and as soon as he touched the ball, he knew he was home. Playing running back and receiving the handoff, it was almost unfair. DeVito took his first touch to the house for a touchdown. Everyone watching was in awe clapping the entire time he was sprinting toward the end zone.

He was hooked.

Fast forward to his junior year and that love of football has turned him into a historic quarterback for the Shelby Whippets. DeVito, the No. 4 returning athlete in the Richland 200, is coming off of a sophomore season that won't soon be forgotten. He earned first team All-Ohio , first team All-Northwest District and first team All-Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and was also named the Division IV Northwest District Offensive Player of the Year after a season where he threw for 3,556 yards and 30 touchdowns on just 191 completions. He also ran for a team-high 1,194 yards and 17 touchdowns. Oh, and he caught three passes for 111 yards and two scores.

All of that didn't happen by accident.

"Brayden is a special kid who has an understanding of what it takes to be very good," Shelby coach Rob Mahaney said. "As his coach, I can say that I have never been around a quarterback who has put in as much time to develop his game as Brayden has. That has continued into this year. No one puts in the time, no own works in the dark as much as Brayden DeVito."

It is that work that has DeVito knocking on the Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Record Books. As a freshman, he piled up 2,464 yards and 22 passing touchdowns while also running for 526 yards and four scores. After just two full seasons, DeVito has 6,020 total passing yards. To enter the OHSAA record books, a QB has to throw for 7,000-plus yards and DeVito has two more years of football left to play.

By the end of his career, he is going to be mentioned with some of the best high school quarterbacks the state of Ohio has ever seen.

That legacy is something DeVito does think about from time to time, but never let's it get in the way of his team's goals.

"I kind of think about it, but it is far from the most important thing to me," DeVito said. "It would be great to be remembered for some amazing things like those passing yards but if all things go well, I'll be up there somewhere and hopefully helping my team win as many games as possible."

When DeVito was coming up through the pee wee and middle school program, many saw him as a run-first quarterback who could throw the ball a little bit. He took that designation to heart and began working on his game with ferocity. To go with his insane passing yards total, DeVito has also thrown for 52 touchdown passes in two season. He needs just 13 more to enter break the threshold of the OHSAA record books for TD passes in a career.

Running QB? Please.

"When you look at his development and the passing yards, we are talking about a kid who growing up, everyone saw him as a running quarterback," Mahaney said. "But the numbers don't lie. More than 6,000 passing yards for his career in two seasons. It goes back to what he has put into the game."

DeVito a QB from Day 1

It didn't take long for DeVito to take over the quarterback duties at Shelby, a town obsessed with its football team making the QB position almost like town royalty. It was Week 1 of the 2022 season and the Whippets were hosting Madison in the very last game at WW Skiles Field where the program had played for nearly a century and a half.

DeVito didn't get the start that day, but after the first series began with a turnover, he was quickly put into the game and led the Whippets to a dramatic 10-7 win to send Skiles out with a bang.

From there, he was the starter moving forward. Shelby went 5-6 in his first season. He followed that up with a 10-3 record in 2023 with two playoff wins and a shared Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship. As he enters his junior season, DeVito has taken things to a different level. He missed out on the MOAC Player of the Year Award, which went to Ontario's Ohio State bound Bodpegn Miller, and it has fueled him. He is the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave the following practice.

Winning has become an obsession much like the sport did when he was dominating in flag football as a youngster.

"I have learned what it takes to be great and when I fell in love with football at a very young age, all I wanted to do was be the best I can in this sport," DeVito said. "I want to play at a high level for as long as I possibly can and I'll do whatever I have to do to put myself in that position."

And he already has put himself in that position. Over the summer, DeVito received an offer to play college football at Ashland University and is on several Division I radars including Toledo out of the Mid-America Conference.

The moment DeVito fell in love with the game is similar to how Mahaney and the rest of the Shelby football coaching staff fell in love with the idea of DeVito being the starting quarterback. It was during a preseason scrimmage at Norwalk before DeVito's freshman season. Shelby was searching for its next starting QB after going through a wealth of talent at the position from Brennan Armstrong to McGuire Albert to Marshall Shepherd.

DeVito made it known right away that his coaches could trust a freshman to carry on the tradition.

"After that Norwalk scrimmage and seeing the things he could do for us, I just knew he was going to be a special football player," Mahaney said. "That starting turning the wheels to where he is now."

And where he is now is on a path that could make him statistically the greatest quarterback to even put on a Shelby Whippets uniform. He is on pace to pass Armstrong's career passing yards record of 7,386 and should get his 83 TD record by the time it is all said and done. He needs 146 more completions and 238 attempts to pass Armstrong in both categories. He will also need 45 more rushing touchdowns over the next two years to break the all-time career record in that stat, too.

In 2021, Shepherd had the greatest single season of any Shelby QB breaking records for completions (270), attempts (415), completion percentage (65.06%), passing yards (4,273) and TD passes (48).

DeVito might have a similar year in 2024 which could build quite a legacy.

"Shelby football is a legacy program," Mahaney said. "You're talking about a ton of tradition, 29 conference championships, 703 wins, you don't get that without tradition and great players. Brennan Armstrong is on that Mount Rushmore of players and I think the path Brayden DeVito is on, it will be hard to keep him off of that list."

Leadership will be next step for DeVito

DeVito enters his junior year as the most veteran player on the football team. He has played in 24 games over the last two years staring 23 of them. And playing the most important position in the city of Shelby, he will now take on a bigger role for his football team.

Leader.

"At the quarterback position, leadership is required," Mahaney said. "You ask guys to be leaders, but at quarterback, it is expected. Everyone looks to you. Your best quarterbacks are guys you do not have to remind to be leaders and Brayden is a guy I will never have to ask to be a leader. He has embraced that fully and it comes naturally to him. It is awesome to watch."

He has taken steps every year toward becoming a better leader so when it was his time, he would be ready.

"You see the growth from Brayden every single year from a freshman to now and him making explosive plays to his sophomore year where he took a ton of ownership for his personal growth," Mahaney said. "Now, going into his junior year, he is pulling guys with him. He is working with his receivers after practice and talking with them so much more. His growth has been special. To think he is only going to be a junior is very exciting for us."

It is his turn to drive. He is no longer the freshman or sophomore hitching a ride to practice from Issaiah Ramsey. He is no longer the silent guy in the pregame huddle listening to seniors hype his team up. He is no longer the guy who can work in silence.

It is his time to lead.

"Playing as a freshman and sophomore, I got to watch how to be a leader from those older guys," DeVito said. "I am going to take everything I learned from them and embrace my opportunity to be a leader. My classmates are starting to play a lot and I an excited to show them what it takes to play at the varsity level."

And it is the same role he will have to take into the 2024-25 basketball season. He returns as an honorable mention All-Northwest District, All-District 6 and All-MOAC player from last year's state semifinal team that won the first regional championship in program history. DeVito averaged 9.5 points and shot 41.7% from three last year and is the lone returning starter.

But for the No. 4 athlete in the Richland 200, he heads into his junior year with a ton of fire to live up to the expectations.

"It is an honor because I know how talented our county is," DeVito said. "To be in the Top 5 is something that isn't taken lightly."

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland 200: No. 4 Shelby's Brayden DeVito working on lasting legacy, building leadership