As if Phoenix Desert Vista weren’t already a pressure-cooker, there’s more wrath directed toward coach Dan Hinds, most of which involves having senior wunderkind Devon Kennard playing both ways.
Naturally, all of this came to a boil once Kennard was injured in the final two minutes of Friday night’s game against Chandler, and moreso now that a torn ACL has ended his senior season, an enormously devastating blow to the psyche and championship aspirations in Ahwatukee.
Kennard’s future should be fine. His five schools of choice (Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Texas and Cal) wisely kept their scholarship offers on the table, and he’ll be good-to-go in less than a calendar year given his work ethic and family pedigree.
His future is on defense, but he’s averaged more than seven yards per carry on offense the past 1 1/2 seasons. It takes a bare minimum of two people to bring him down on every play, and he has the power to run through defenders between the tackles, and the speed to run away.
Combine that with his desire to be a two-way player and preseason discussions with Hinds about carrying the ball, and it’s absurd to suggest Hinds should have never had him on the field while Desert Vista tried to run out the clock Friday.
Your best players play, and a place like D.V. which doesn’t have numbers like Chandler Hamilton or Mesa Red Mountain has little choice. And even if they had more options, Kennard would probably be as good as, or better than, any alternatives.
Right guy. Right play. Wrong result. Welcome to football, and the real world, where awful things can still happen to the best.
“and it’s absurd to suggest Hinds should have never had him on the field while Desert Vista tried to run out the clock Friday.”
Hinds, this is just a kid, you are an adult, running out the clock with your best player. A D1 prospect. You should have known better.