2010 Player Spotlights: Kendall Kelly

Kendall Kelly
SM North

Position: Running Back
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 170lbs.
Class: Junior

State to Note
Kelly was one of the few bright spots during SM North's 2-7 season in 2009. The sophomore rushed for 609 yards on 148 carries.

Scouting Report
New SM North head coach Dennis Grayless has quite a task at hand trying to rejuvenate the Indians football program. The team hasn't made the playoffs since 2003, but it's players like Kelly that Grayless will be relying on.

Kelly was one of the few sophomores in the Sunflower League who had a feature role with their team last season, and he did pretty well rushing for over 600 yards. Assuming the junior receives enough carries, he should rush for over 1,000 yards this upcoming season. Kelly's excellent balance and decent speed makes him a threat in the return game as well.

SM North lost some playmaker like Arthur Rucker to graduation, but overall the program's talent pool didn't lose too much. Kelly will be teaming up with senior-to-be Kyle Goodburn to try and make big strides in year one for Grayless.

Game Scores and Notes

Week Two Game Results

Olathe North 41, SM Northwest 12
SM Northwest gained the lead on the opening kickoff with a 98 yard return for a touchdown by Chris Mansker. Olathe North's Adonis Saunders responded on the ensuing kickoff with a 99 yard touchdown return of his own. After that, it was all Olathe North. Eagle running back James Franklin rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns, on runs of 7, 27, and 28 yards. Meanwhile, Tre Walker led the Olathe North defense with two sacks and an interception. In total, SM Northwest was held to a mere 135 yards of total offense.


SM West 17, Olathe East 14
For the second week in a row SM West was down two touchdowns early, and for the second straight week the Vikings fought back to win. Olathe East quarterback Carter McEntee found Chris Fields and Aaron Johnson for touchdown passes to build a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. However, that would be all the scoring the Hawks would come up with. SM West running back Cordi Pascal scored on a 15 yard run in the second quarter to bring the Vikings to within seven. After a field goal had closed the gap to three points, SM West quarterback DJ Balazs found Keifer Holliman for a 12 yard touchdown pass to put the Vikings up for good in the fourth quarter.


Olathe South 24, Olathe Northwest 17
This week Olathe South quarterback Tanner Dutton only passed the ball 30 times. He connected on 19 of those passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Despite a 17-0 lead at halftime, Olathe South had to do all in their power in the second half to prevent Olathe Northwest from coming back and winning the game. Olathe Northwest's Cullen Phillips scored on a four yard touchdown run with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter to get the score within seven points at 24-17, but the Ravens weren't able to get on the scoreboard again.


SM North 41, Leavenworth 0
For the first time in Ryan Majors time at the helm at SM North, the Indians are 2-0. An early 41 yard touchdown run by Arthur Rucker set the tone for the game, as SM North went on to score five more unanswered touchdowns.


Lawrence Free State 36, SM East 3 (Thursday Night Game)
On Thursday night the Firebirds of Lawrence Free State showed off the talent they possess in a thorough domination of SM East. Free State's Camren Torneden (below) carried the ball 16 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to a 68 yard punt return for a touchdown. Free State running back Kirk Resseguie complimented Torneden with 19 carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, SM East was only able to put out 149 yards of total offense.





SM South 28, Lawrence 7 (Thursday Night Game)
The start to the 2009 season is not going well for Lawrence High. On Thursday night they were soundly defeated by the Raiders of SM South. Lawrence scored first, gaining a 7-0 advantage before SM South took control. The Raider's Grant Hilton scored 3 touchdowns, while fellow teammate Johann Swanepoel added 117 rushing yards on 19 carries. On the other side of the ball Lawrence's Tyrae Jenkins was only able to come away with 50 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Game Scores and Notes

Week One Game Results

Olathe North 71, Leavenworth 6

Clearly, Olathe North was able to flex their muscles in this game. Simone hopeful James Franklin totalled 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Joining him in the backfield was Kansas State commit Tre Walker, who added three rushing touchdowns of his own. The Eagles dropped half-a-hundred on Leavenworth by halftime, and went on to score three more touchdowns in the second half.

Olathe East 29, Lawrence Free State 20

This game came as a bit of a surprise, but after looking at the box score it makes sense why Olathe East came out on top. Lawrence Free State, the more seasoned of the two squads, committed five turnovers, four of which came on interceptions. Firebird quarterback Camren Torneden passed for 151 yards, and rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns, but ultimately the three interceptions he threw hurt the Firebirds quite a bit. Olathe East fed off the turnovers and played a very disciplined game in coming out on top.

SM West 29, Olathe South 23

Olathe South's steady passing game was nearly enough to take down the Vikings Friday night. Falcon quarterback Tanner Dutton completed 29 of 47 passes for 315 yards and one touchdown, but SM West showed alot of grit in winning the game. Olathe South started out hitting on all cylinders--to the tune of a 13-0 lead. But SM West, led by 166 rushing yards from junior Will Livingston, battled back to gain a halftime lead. A late pick six by SM West senior Alex Snook solidified the victory for the Vikings.

SM North 17, Lawrence 14

The Indians of SM North put a bit of a damper on the night that unveiled the new football stadium at Lawrence High. SM North used a balanced rushing attack of Kendall Kelly (below) and Arthur Rucker to wear down the Lawrence front seven. Lawrence also turned the ball over three times on fumbles in the loss.

SM Northwest 23, SM South 15
Despite having two key players injured (John Hauk and Trey Jacobson), the Cougars of SM Northwest were able to grind out a win. Quarterback Matt Nowak completed 12 of his 16 pass attempts for 135 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball six times for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Olathe Northwest 29, SM East 7 (Thursday Night Game)
Chip Sherman's first game as head coach at SM East, a Thursday night contest, ends in defeat. Olathe Northwest's Brandon Bouvilom rushed for two touchdowns and helped Olathe Northwest's head coach, Todd Dain, defeat his former school.

Olathe Northwest vs SM East All Star Video Sports Highlights

Players to Watch in 2009: Arthur Rucker

Name: Arthur Rucker

School: SM North

Year: Senior

Position(s): Quarterback

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 190 lbs.

Notes: Rucker has been one of the few bright spots for the SM North football program over the past few seasons. In fact, the Indians progression from a record of 1-8 in 2007, to 3-6 in 2008 can be heavily attributed to Rucker.

A a sophomore in 2007 Rucker was thrown into the fire as the starting quarterback. Rucker and SM North did little to impress during the season, winning just one game--only their fourth victory in three seasons. The 2008 campaign, however, had a slightly different tone to it.

After dropping a nail biter to Lawrence 10-3 in the opening game of the season, SM North shutout Olathe Northwest 14-0 in the second game of the season with the help of two touchdown passes of 10, and 32 yards from Rucker. Rucker helped SM North to win two of the team's following four games, before the team hit a rough patch and lost its final three games. Regardless, the 2008 season was definately a plus in terms of Rucker's development as the team leader.

With good size, a decent forty (4.7) and two years of experience under his belt, Rucker has the potential to raise some eyebrows this upcoming season. If anything he can help return SM North to a sub .500 record, something the program hasn't enjoyed since the 2004 season.

Photo Courtesy Shawnee-Dispatch