By MATT GOLDBERG
Herald-Whig Sports Writer
SHELBYVILLE, Mo. -- Ryan Henderson isn't to used to staying in one place too long.
The North Shelby senior has played wide receiver, fullback, free safety, cornerback and quarterback in four seasons for the Raiders.
After starting at quarterback for the first two weeks of the season, Henderson is now the Raiders' starting running back.
"I could play nose tackle, if they let me," the 5-11, 170-pound Henderson said. "But they won't."
Off the field, Henderson also moves around quite a bit.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Henderson has also lived in Michigan, New York and Missouri -- where he's attended school in the North Shelby, South Shelby and Knox County districts.
It seemed Henderson had left the Shelbyville, Mo., area for good in October 2007.
Henderson and his fraternal twin sister Hillary were sophomores when they went to North Shelby High School on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007.
Their lives would never be the same after that day.
Ryan noticed his mother, the usual early-riser up no later than 6 a.m., wasn't awake when the two left for school well after 7:30 a.m.
"I thought it was weird and I thought about waking her up that morning," Ryan said. "But decided not to because I figured that she could use the rest."
During second period Ryan and Hillary were going to chemistry class when principal Kimala Gaines took the two to her office where their older sister Erica Burden was waiting.
"Erica was in there and she told us that she found mom because she had went to drop (her son) off, because mom was supposed to babysit him," Ryan said. "And she was in her bed. Dead. It was a crazy shock."
Michele Broadwater was 48 years old. Ryan said a prescription mix-up was likely the cause of death.
She was laid to rest on a Thursday, Ryan played in the Week 7 win at Schuyler County on Friday and Ryan and Hillary boarded a plane to New York on Saturday, where the two sophomores went to live with their older half brother, Lee Rhodus.
"We were losing a pretty good player at that time -- and it just made us sick," said North Shelby coach Terry Ahern, who has coached Henderson since eighth grade. "So he played one more game. I played him as a running back and a receiver and he made like five catches in that game against Schuyler County, we won the game, we gave him the game ball, a couple of jerseys and it was pretty heartbreaking for me because I really liked the kid. He's just a great person to me."
That seemed to be the end of the North Shelby chapter in Ryan's life.
The Hendersons moved to Chaffee, N.Y, approximately 40 miles south of Buffalo in Western New York.
Ryan ended up playing junior varsity basketball at Pioneer Central, and Hillary and him finished out their sophomore school year there.
"I kind of felt whenever my mom did pass away, it was just kind of shock like, 'Where are we gonna go and what are we gonna do?' And one of my first thoughts was that I might actually want to go to New York and live with my brother," Henderson said. "So whenever they brought that up I was all for it. It took Hillary a little bit of convincing, but she eventually went. But then we kind of got out there and saw that the grass isn't always greener and so decided to come back."
Last summer Ahern received an unexpected phone call from Henderson.
And Henderson moved back to Bethel, Mo., to live with his stepfather, Everett Broadwater, on Aug. 10, 2008 -- a day before two-a-days began.
Of course Ahern's gain was Pioneer Central's loss.
"The coach up there was really disappointed, really wanted me to stay because I was in a lot of summer camps and stuff and 7 on 7," Henderson said. "... He was really disappointed whenever I had to leave. I just told him I had to do what I had to do."
A versatile player like Henderson would be a welcome addition to any team.
But he is invaluable to a program like North Shelby, which is down to 19 players.
"He can play any position on this football team," Ahern said. "... I need him to get his hands on the ball more, because he is our best runner."
--mgoldberg@whig.com/221-3367
