Euclid City Schools

 What all-star running back in Euclid's storied football history excelled at the highest level in his junior year and then agreed in his senior year, a statement year for most high school athletes, to move to a completely different position so that another talented young man could take his place as the featured running back? It would be an understatement to say that not many players would ever agree to do that.

That, however, is exactly what Raeshaun Jernigan did in the fall of 1992 when he agreed,

willingly but also understandably somewhat reluctantly, to play wide receiver in his senior season so that Pepe Pearson (a 2005 Sports Hall of Famer) could take his place at running back. Team came first for Raeshaun as he made probably the hardest decision of his young high school career.

All Raeshaun did at this new position that season was to set a new team record for receptions, a record that still stands. He once again made the First Team on four local or district All-Star Teams and repeated as an All-ohio Selection, this time as a receiver after being named as a running back as a junior.

As a sophomore running back, Raeshaun's star first began to rise. He rushed for 678 yards and scored nine touchdowns.

He came into his own as a junior when he became one more outstanding tailback in Euclid's history of great ones in the 1980's and 1990-'s. He rushed for 1,005 yards and scored 25 TD's. He was the Offensive Player of the Year by the Greater Cleveland Conference, the Plain Dealer, and the News-Herald. He was named to the All-Northeast Ohio District First Team and to the All-Ohio Second Team.

At 5'9" and 170 pounds, Raeshaun's accomplishment as a senior in a new position were all the more astounding because he duplicated his post-season All-Star selections, this time as a rookie receiver. He had 44 receptions for 606 yards and 17 TD's, an amazing total since that 1992 team ran the ball on offense so well. Once again he was a first-team selection on the GCC, Plain Dealer, News-Herald, and All-Northeast Ohio All-Star Teams, and again was a Second Team All-Ohio Selection, this time as a receiver.

For his career with the Panthers, Rawshaun scored 51 TD's, 43 as a running back. He played on teams that accumulated 19 consecutive regular season wins over the 1991 and 1992 seasons and a team that had a sixth-place ranking statewide by the Associated Press in 1992.

Raeshaun's career as an athlete was not restricted to football. In basketball he captained the team as a senior, lettered for three years while playing guard, scored 222 career points, played on teams that had 55 wins and 14 losses over three seasons, and performed in 57 games, the fourth highest total by a player in school history when he graduated.

His accomplishments as a four-year letter-winner in outdoor track were outstanding, especially during his senior season. In that season he was personally responsible for 1,500 of his team's 2,080 team points and obviously led his team in scoring. He was the high hurdles champion at the GCC and District Meets, as well as the Intermediate Hurdles Champion at the District Meet. At the State Meet he won fourth place honors in the high hurdles.

A football scholarship to Kent State University followed, and Raeshaun continued to excel on the gridiron. After his freshman year, he made the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team and was runner-up as the MAC Freshman of the Year.

He left Kent after one year and spent time at Edinboro University before moving on to play semi-professional football for the Cleveland Lions, a team that he led in rushing for the three seasons during which he played.

Rawshaun now lives with his wife and daughter in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and works as a shipping tow motor driver in Solon. To his credit, he has as goal for the fall of 2008 a return to college to complete his degree studies.

Inducted on October 2, 2008