Umatilla High senior Ray Jenkins has spent most of his life chasing excellence. This fall, he helped deliver something no Bulldog athlete had ever experienced: an undefeated football season.

For Jenkins, the first-year starting quarterback who transitioned from wide receiver and learned the position on the fly, the 2025 campaign was more than wins and records. It was legacy left behind for future athletes to look up towards.

“It felt amazing knowing that not just my name but my entire team is now at the top of Umatilla football history forever,” Jenkins says. 

The senior broke the school record for most passing touchdowns in a game with seven. It was on of the man highlights of a season that rewrote Bulldogs history. But football is only half of Rays’ story. He’s also a rising basketball star, now off to a strong start as Umatilla begins its winter schedule.

Jenkins has played football for six to seven years and picked up basketball in eighth grade. Both sports became pillars in his life, shaped largely by watching the athletes in his family.

“No one really got me into the sport,” he says. “I just hooked on to it seeing that all the guys in my family played basketball and football.”

His athletic confidence was reinforced by Umatilla football coach Eric Samuels, who once told him, “Be a leader in both sports, not just one.” It stuck and Jenkins embraced becoming a year-round competitor.

Basketball, he said, has taught him to “always be confident, believe, and always move on to the next play,” lessons he carries into every huddle and every possession and in life. 

Jenkins is quick to credit the people who have shaped him. His parents, mother America Weatherspoon and stepfather Marcus Weatherspoon, remain his biggest supporters.

“No matter how they feel on any given day, they are always going to show up and support me and my siblings for everything,” Jenkins says. “I love them for that.”

Two other influences, though no longer alive, guide him just as powerfully. He plays football for his late father, Ray Jenkins Jr., and basketball for his late uncle, Gerald Bedford Jr. Both passed away before he ever met them.

“I live on their legacy. I play football for my dad and basketball for my uncle,” he says. 

Ray’s favorite football memory came earlier this season. Breaking the single-game passing touchdown record was a highlight he will never forget. His favorite moment as a varsity athlete, though, was making the playoffs as a sophomore. It was a season that signaled Umatilla’s competitive rise after years of losing seasons. 

But learning how to be a quarterback was the hardest challenge he’s faced so far.

“Being a first-year quarterback was definitely one of the most challenging things in life,” he says. “I had to learn the spot in such a little amount of time after transitioning from wide receiver. It’s a completely different mindset.” 

Off the field, Ray maintains a 3.5 GPA, volunteers at Pop Warner games, and also competes in track to stay in shape.

After graduation, Ray plans to attend college to study athletic training while playing basketball. If he gets the opportunity to play both football and basketball, he says, he’ll gladly take it.

Ray hopes to finish his senior year with one more goal: “Having a winning senior season on the basketball court and getting back on the dominant side like we were my freshman and sophomore year.”

Ray also spends his time with family, friends and his girlfriend, enjoying the support system that fuels everything he does.

“Playing at Umatilla, has been so special and an honor. It’s great seeing how much the athletic program has grown and how successful the teams have become,” Ray says. 

Photos provided by Lauren Archer