Moore Catholic has a ritual before every kickoff in honor of Johnny Ray.
A player yells, “Left side, are you ready?” to the response of “Yeah!” The same goes for the right side before the kicker points to the sky and says, “Jay Ray are you ready?” It brings a cheer from the home crowd and a yell of “Yeah!” from the players on the sideline and fans.
“It’s awesome,” Ray’s mother Lori Morales said. “It’s heartbreaking of course because you look around the field and expect to see him run out and he doesn’t, so it’s kind of weird.”
She has been to every Mavericks home game this season, even after her 16-year-old son died when he crashed his parent’s SUV on Father Capodanno Boulevard on Staten Island a year ago this Sunday. Morales will be in the stands again Saturday for the Mavericks Homecoming game against St. Joseph’s of Metuchen (N.J.), prior to which Ray will be honored with a memorial near the field.
“I like supporting the team because they keep in touch with us,” Morales said. “It’s like we support each other. They support us and we support them. It’s a real family bonding thing because they are the ones who keep our spirit up.”
The players feel the same way about her. They admire her strength and courage to continue to show them support after all she has gone through. Many will also take time to visit her.
Moore coach Greg Rocco said that he would often get text messages from Ray’s sister, Jasmine, asking for him to let the team out of practice early because Morales is feeling down and wants to bake for them. Linebacker Russell Brown said seeing Morales at games reminds him of Ray’s signature smile and reminds him of the fun he used to bring to the team.
“She is just amazing, that woman,” lineman Dom Casella said. “She is just so strong. If that was my kid I wouldn’t be able to come out like that. Just seeing that makes me feel like she is a strong woman. It makes me want to be just like her.”
Morales isn’t sure what to expect this weekend, but hopes it is easy mentally on both her and her family. She appreciates all the school has done, including the memorial, a “Walk to Remember” down Father Capodanno Boulevard on Sunday morning and a celebration after. The family will host a candlelight vigil at the crash site at 7:54 p.m., the time of Ray’s death, later that night.
“It’s something you haven’t been to in life,” Morales said. “You don’t know how to react.”
A group of Ray’s friends and family have already made a habit of visiting the crash site at the 24th of each month since his death. The selflessness of it and the fact they have vowed to continue to do so even as they get older has touched Morales. It’s something she hasn’t done to her son’s room yet. She said people have asked for some of his stuff, a shirt and his Xbox, but it’s still too soon for that.
“We are just not ready to part with it and we don’t think we ever will be,” Morales said. “Maybe there will come a day, maybe not.”
Come Saturday, she will be exactly where she has been all season when the Mavericks are home – in the stands cheering, providing both comfort and support and getting it back in return.
“I know the kids always look up to see if Lori is there,” Rocco said. “I think the kids are hurting and I know Lori is. I think they find mutual consolation in each other. To the kids I think Lori represents Johnny and to Lori the kids represent her son.”