Warren East senior football players Jordan Ellis and Jon Yates talked about trying to land scholarships at the same college. Morehead State came through for the Raider duo.

“We wanted to have a Warren East offense again,” a laughing Yates said Wednesday, when three Raider seniors signed to play college football. Joining the versatile Yates and quarterback Ellis was speedy wide receiver Demetric Ray, who is bound for Campbellsville University.

The trio were key components of the recent turnaround in Warren East football. The Raiders went a combined 21-5 in the past two seasons and reached the final four of Class 4A last fall.

“Sending these guys off is kind of representative of what has happened over the last couple of years here,” said Warren East coach Ben Bruni. “People have seen our program grow and go from kind of a doormat to one of the more dominant programs in the area. You can’t win without kids, and the reason we’ve had the success we’ve had is because of the kids we’ve had.”

Ellis leaves Warren East as one of the top offensive performers in program history. He owns essentially every passing record at the school, and threw for 2,810 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior.

“It’s exciting. It’s going to be like a new world,” Ellis said of leaving for Morehead State. “We’ve got to get used to not having our moms to depend on. We’ve got to live for ourselves.”

Yates started four seasons for the Raiders, playing at least seven positions on both sides of the ball during his career. In 2007, Yates caught 38 passes for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns and recorded 207 total tackles on defense.

He said visits to Morehead just felt right.

“The coaches were cool,” Yates said. “They were upbeat, they were just like me – outgoing. Everything about it. The school was cool, the campus was all right.”

Ray will join Raider alums Matt Rust and Aaron Murphy at Campbellsville. Ray started on both sides of the ball in 2007, and in two years scored touchdowns by rushing, receiving, returning a punt, returning two kickoffs and on defense.

Still, Ray began his athletic career as a basketball devotee.

“I wouldn’t have envisioned it at first, because basketball was my dream and I was planning to play basketball in college somewhere. But playing football, I like playing football and I got the chance to play with my friends for my senior year and junior year.”

Despite their excitement Wednesday, all three players expressed some sadness at seeing their Warren East careers come to a close. The moment was bittersweet as well for Bruni, who will have to do without the star trio next season.

“The ultimate goal of a high school coach is to move his players on, whether it be academically or athletically,” Bruni said. “You can’t ever want to hold them back.”