By Mike McClure

The Sussex Elite Ravens football program prepared for its opening week with a media day and pep rally last Friday in Laurel. The teams, which are like Pop Warner teams, will play a 10 game schedule (plus playoffs and regionals in Virginia) in towns such as Seaford, Salisbury, and Camden.

The guest speaker for last week’s rally was 2014 Woodbridge graduate Dajon Emory, who played Division I football at Arkansas State University and has played in the Arena Football League for four seasons. He played for the youth organization when it was the Seaford Panthers.

Dajon Emory is shown with the Sussex Elite Ravens football teams during last week’s media day and pep rally prior to Saturday’s season-opening games.

“It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a hard road,” Emory said of the players’ chances of following in his footsteps.

“I’ve been in their shoes,” said Emory, prior to his presentation. He said he wants to be an inspiration to the kids. “I want to let these kids know no matter where are, we can do it.”

Emory graduated from Woodbridge High School in 2014. He was part of the Raiders team that went 7-3 during his senior year, making the playoffs for the first time. He was unable to play in the first round game after hurting his hand in the regular season finale against Delmar but played in the second playoff game.

“We kind of got the ball rolling (prior to the Raiders’ state championship teams),” Emory said. “The family atmosphere at Woodbridge is just love.”

Emory had a 1.9 grade point average at Woodbridge and attended junior college at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa. to bring up his grade point average. Dajon said he took school seriously at Lackawanna and had a 3.4 GPA. As a result he received a scholarship to attend Arkansas State.

After college, Emory took part in a pro day and worked out for the Canadian Football League (CFL) before COVID ended the season. He played Arena League Football the last four seasons for Sioux Falls Storm in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

During his time pursuing a pro football career, Emory was told to have a plan b. “During my plan A I got two degrees,” said Emory.

Now Dajon, who is the father of a three-year old son, is looking to pass on his knowledge and experience to the next generation. He plans to start a mentorship program for kids and show them that somebody cares.

“Hopefully all these kids can go farther than I do,” Emory said.