Crawford 100: Colonel Crawford's double All-Ohioan Payne Degray wants to set the standard

Editor's Note: This is the twelfth installment of a series.

NORTH ROBINSON - Payne Degray credits his parents for his passion for sports.

Understandably so considering his dad Brett was an All-Ohioan at Colonel Crawford in the 90's and his mom Angela (Kalb) a standout at Wynford going on to play basketball at Ohio Dominican.

"They taught me a lot of the stuff that I know today," he said.

Now entering his junior year at Colonel Crawford, Degray is the No. 1 returning male athlete in Crawford County as the lone two-sport All-Ohioan.

Foundational freshman year

Very rarely does a freshman slot right into varsity football at Colonel Crawford. Especially with an All-Ohioan in Parker Ketterman ahead of him. But even in limited playing time he totaled 14 tackles, forced two fumbles, and recovered one on an Eagles team that made it to the regional semifinals .

Basketball season he was unexpectedly thrust into action in one of the biggest games of the season — away to Carey — due to All-Ohio big man Jacob Maddy dealing with an illness. Degray immediately showed what he's capable of grabbing six rebounds and swatting away a ball. This led to him appearing in each of the remaining games that season, 10 in total, where he scored 13 points and nabbed 24 rebounds off the bench.

Looking back, Degray knows how important it was to lay the groundwork for his future as a freshman. And he was thankful to have All-Ohio mentors in both sports.

"It was a lot of work in the weight room, and I also got a ton of great reps during practices for football," Degray said. "I went against guys like Eli Brewer and Parker Ketterman all the time. And in basketball it was Jacob Maddy. They taught me like a lot of stuff on the field like how to just play the game, but they also taught me how to be a better person in general and how to act with all the success that's come to our program — just be humble.

"Everybody before me just set standard. And I'm wanting to set the standard for the future of Crawford, too."

Sublime sophomore seasons

With guys like Brewer and Ketterman gone, Degray was next in line to be the next great defensive lineman at Colonel Crawford. The question was whether or not he was ready to take that next step as a sophomore.

It didn't take long to be answered.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound defensive end quickly became one of the best in the area at his position. His three forced fumbles led the Northern 10, 28 tackles for loss and six sacks ranked third, and 75 tackles was 19th albeit most players ahead of him were linebackers.

Colonel Crawford bowed out in the regional quarterfinals before the accolades started rolling in. First team All-Northern 10 was followed by first team Northwest District in Division VI , and capped off with an honorable mention All-Ohio nod.

That carried into a somewhat unpredictable basketball season. Returning just one varsity starter and fewer than 10 points per game, Degray and the Eagles were bound to learn some hard lessons along the way. And while they did, it didn't take long for them to start leaving their own mark on the program.

What should've been a "down" year for Colonel Crawford expectations turned into an 18-7 season that saw the Eagles share the Northern 10 title and finish as district runner-up to the only team to beat them twice in league play — Seneca East .

Almost a walking double-double, Degray averaged 13.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while leading the league in shooting boasting a 61.6% field goal percentage. His rebound average topped the N10, blocks were third, and points fifth.

Again, honors came in … first team All-Northern 10 , third team Northwest District in Division VI , and honorable mention All-Ohio . But none of this really matters to Degray, it's all about team success — emphasis on the word success.Still

"We always go into practice and games wanting to do our best," he said. "When I was in elementary school, we saw what losing is like, and we've heard from past players that it really isn't fun. We just go in all wanting to do well.

"That's our main goal, it isn't about like who gets the most stats, who gets the most yards, it's just about winning."

That mindset helped ease any pressure he might've normally felt as a sophomore taking on huge roles in two established programs. Someone would always have his back.

Still two years to go, Degray is looking to continue perfecting his craft as a junior. And with that, team success should come along with it.

"I'm hoping to improve in the pass rush for football, and then maybe add in a little jumper for basketball," Degray said. "But from a team standpoint (in football), I'm just wanting to fill roles anywhere possible to help my team. We lost a couple seniors last year, and we have a small class of seniors this year, so whatever team needs me to do — I'll do it.

"For basketball, I'm going in to do the same thing this year again — rebound and score."

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford 100: Colonel Crawford's double All-Ohioan Payne Degray wants to set the standard