[starBUCKS]

He had 24.5 sacks last year... I've had my eye on him since I read the Republic on line daily.

Desert Vista's Kennard named SEV Player of Year

Desert Vista's Kennard named SEV Player of Year

Lindsey Frazier
Special for The Republic
Dec. 28, 2007 02:09 PM
As the Phoenix Brophy Prep football players raised the Class 5A Division I trophy above their heads, Phoenix Desert Vista defensive end Devon Kennard could only take a knee with helmet in hand and watch while fighting back tears.

"I never want to forget that moment," said Kennard. "I just soaked that up so I would never forget that and let that be my passion for next year. I felt like I had to sit there and watch them take it away from us. Honestly, I didn't know what else to do.

"I didn't want to leave the field. I wish we could keep on playing. I wish there was another quarter left. I kept saying, 'It's not over. It's not over.' After they lifted up the trophy, I realized that this was it. It was over."


Despite Desert Vista's 34-21 loss to Brophy in the championship game, it's easy to see why Kennard was named The Republic's Southeast Valley football Player of the Year.

On defense, the junior end had 24.5 sacks, averaging nearly two a game. As a running back, Kennard rushed 63 times for 445 yards, averaging more than 7 yards a carry.

"At his position, as a defensive end and a running back, it's tough to keep him on the field the entire game, but if we could have done that, we would have," said Desert Vista coach Dan Hinds.

Kennard was the first Thunder player ever named a captain as a junior.

"He was so effective as a running back," Hinds said. "Towards the end of the year, every time we put him in the game everyone keyed on him, and sometimes we put him in just to act as a decoy."

With a 3.9 grade-point average, Kennard has found success in the classroom, too. After the season, Kennard's older brother Derek Kennard Jr. a Desert Vista assistant coach, encouraged Devon to hit the weight room. Their father, Derek Kennard Sr., was an NFL offensive lineman for 11 years.