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'05 OH RB Greg Keys (Kent State signee)

daddyphatsacs

daddyphatsacs,

i was a 1992 grad. i currently do a website for the Bellevue football team.



** Theres a new PREMIUM article over on Bucknuts about Greg. Not sure what it says as i'm not a paid member. hopefully someone drops me a line about the article.. :)
 
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update

just thought i'd give some numbers on Greg thus far:

week 1: 116 yds on 23 carries and 1 td
week 2: 203 yds on 28 carries and 1 td


Greg has appeared to run even harder this year and he'll need to as they only returning starter on the OL is our center.


319 yds on 51 carries and a 6.3 average and 2 tds thus far..... Greg saw limited action on D last week as our coach normally doesn't like his horse going both ways... Gregs up to 6'1 210 lbs and saw action at OLB last week on only a handful of plays..... i beleive our biggest starting LB is only 200lbs..
 
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Big day for Keys

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20040911/localsports/1218787.html

1218787-566022.jpg


BELLEVUE -- Greg Keys sat hunched over in the Bellevue locker room.

He was extremely exhausted, light-headed and violently nauseous.

And smiling.

After feeling miserable with flu-like symptoms all Friday, Keys couldn't have felt any better.

A big game and a sweet win over a bitter, neighboring rival will do that.

"I'm a whole lot better now," Keys said after gaining 335 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 45-20 victory over Clyde. "I would have felt a lot worse if I felt this bad and we lost. Feeling this bad and winning, that makes up for it completely."

Bellevue quarterback Jon Journey had five touchdowns and the Redmen forced five turnovers as they improved to 2-1 and continued their dominance of the Fliers (2-1).

"When they beat us in '95, that was enough for me because you hear about it for a whole year," Bellevue coach Ed Nasonti said of the Fliers' last victory in the series. "It's been quiet for nine years, and I want to keep it that way."

Added Keys: "Route 20 football stays in Bellevue once again. We couldn't have asked for more."

The Redmen certainly couldn't have asked for more from Keys.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound jet-quick senior ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns, had 68 return yards and scored on a 59-yard reception.

The latter may have been the most crucial play of the game.

Matt Guhn, who finished with 116 rushing yards, scored on a 1-yard plunge on the opening drive of the second half to pull the Fliers within 26-14. Clyde cruised down the field easily in the eight-play, 75-yard series and gained much momentum.

Bellevue, though, answered with Keys' touchdown on a short dump-off pass up the middle from Journay.

"I told the quarterback, 'Listen, on this play, they haven't been guarding me all night. Watch me up the middle,' " Keys said. "As soon as I turned around, the ball was coming for me. It was off to the races from there.

"That was huge," Keys continued. "The second half, I think we came out a little dry at first. I think we needed a big play to get us back into it."

Keys capped his monster day with a 25-yard touchdown run on Bellevue's next series.

Following the score, which made it 38-14 with 4:19 left in the third quarter, Keys was so exhausted that he was barely able to get off the field. Once on the sidelines, he got down on one knee to rest.

"I was hurting," Keys said.

Jared Martin had an incredible, zig-zagging 74-yard scoring scramble to pull Clyde within 38-20 with 3:54 left in the third quarter. That, though, was as close as Clyde got.

Journay capped his day with a 1-yard scoring keeper to close the scoring with 9:21 left in the game.

Journay finished 10-of-21 for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 56 yards and three more scores.

Bellevue's stellar defense was a big difference in the game, too.

Cody Koselke had two of the Redmen's four interceptions. Eddie Hupp also recovered a fumble.

In the first half, Bellevue scored twice off Clyde miscues.

The opening touchdown run by Journay was set up by an Alex Malott pick. The final score of the first half, a 7-yard scramble by Journay that made it 26-6 with 18 seconds left, was set up by a David Foos interception.

"We made a number of mistakes that they were able to capitalize on," Clyde coach Mike Martin said. "Against Bellevue, you can't do that and come out on top.

"They are a big-play team," he continued. "When we are down a couple of scores and have to play catch-up, that makes it really difficult to be able to come back."

It is also really difficult to stop Keys, even when he is sick.

His big play of the day was an 80-yard second-quarter touchdown burst up the middle.

Keys only went to school for a half day on Friday. At halftime, he received an IV to keep him hydrated.

"I felt all right for the first quarter or two, and then it started creeping in and I just couldn't stop throwing up," Keys said. "I knew I had to suck it up and help my teammates as much as I could. I couldn't miss one of the biggest games of the year."
 
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Greg Keys article on Bucknuts

Theres a new article on Greg Keys over on Bucknuts...not sure what it says as i'm not signed up...Duane Long has emailed me the past stories because i helped him out giving him all the info on Greg but i hate to keep asking him...

can anyone help me out with what the article has to say?


thanks in advance.....
 
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BELLEVUE standout Greg Keys ran for 134 yards in the final game of his career. The Redmen lost 28-6 to Columbus Bishop Watterson.

Greg Keys, who has received Division I interest, rushed for 134 yards on 22 carries in the game. Sixteen of the carries and 93 of the yards came before halftime.

"He's a good, hard runner with good speed and cutback ability," Bjelac said. "He's a good all-around running back."

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20041115/localsports/1596116.html

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20041201/localsports/1679529.html

GREG KEYS, who rushed for 1,964 yards and 19 touchdowns and led Bellevue to the playoffs, was a first-team Division III all-Ohio selection.
 
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Keys

Greg had a great senior season rushing for 1,961 yds and scoring 19 tds with a 6.5 per carry average...


as Watterson's coach mentioned he has very good cutback ability (with his 4.35 speed and track record while likely winning state in 110HH this spring D2) as he was very good vs Watterson but being down 21-6 early in the second half took Bellevue out of their game and we started passing the ball and not using Greg (that hurts when he gets you to that point and then you can't use him)



some team will be lucky to get him........
 
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The News-Messenger POY

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CLYDE COACH Mike Martin, left, led the Fliers to an 8-3 record and their first playoff appearance since 1995. Bellevue senior Greg Keys ran for 1,964 yards and 19 touchdowns and helped lead the Redmen to a 10-2 record, a Northern Ohio League title and a playoff appearance. For their accomplishments, they were named The News-Messenger Coach and Player of the Year, respectively.

Star certainly a Key in Redman success

By MATTHEW HORN
Sports Writer

It is reasonable to suggest that this year's Bellevue seniors would have enjoyed a more successful sophomore campaign if Greg Keys were a Redman at that time.

And it certainly didn't take Keys long to drive that point home in emphatic fashion.

The first time on the field as a Redman after transferring from Perkins last season, Keys took a hand off, executed a few elusive spin moves and powered through a couple of tackles as part of a touchdown jaunt.

"The highlight last year was against Villa Angela-St. Joseph in his first game with the Redmen," senior center and close friend Keith Didion said. "He broke two tackles and spun out of a third, and from that point on I knew what he could do for us. When he gets in the open field, nobody will come close.

"For a team to prepare for Greg and a running game like ours the last two years -- there's not much you can do," he continued. "You won't tackle him with one guy. You have to bring the cavalry."

Keys -- a first-team Division III all-Ohio selection and the Northwest District's offensive player of the year -- was held under 100 rushing yards only once as a senior and amassed 1,964 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground.

Keys, not surprisingly, has been named The News-Messenger Player of the Year after occupying a significant role in Bellevue's 10-2 campaign.

The Redmen won a share of their 11th Northern Ohio League title in coach Ed Nasonti's 14 years. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs, falling to Columbus Bishop Watterson.

"In my 24 years as coach we've had some guys as big. We may have had some guys as fast," Nasonti said. "But I don't think we've ever had anybody as big and fast as Greg. There aren't too many around like him -- 6-foot-1, 210 pounds with 4.3 speed. He's a pleasure to coach."

Keys shuffles a great deal of credit for his remarkable campaign to his coaches and teammates. And Keys was also motivated by a former teammate at Perkins, Aaron Richardson, who died suddenly during practice as a walk-on at Bowling Green in September.

Richardson and Keys were close friends and shared a passion for football and track. The two competed on a 400-meter relay team that finished second at state when Keys was a sophomore and still holds the Perkins' record for the event. The two, along with Justin Conway, also hold the Bill Krause Relay record in the three-man long jump.

Keys, who finished the 110 hurdles at state in second place last year after winning every prior race, said he and Richardson combined for around 15 runner-up medals in Columbus. Keys wore an armband with the No. 27 inscribed on it on his right forearm for the second half of this season. He pointed skyward after each of his four touchdowns against Galion in the first game after Richardson's death.

"I knew he'd want me to go out there with my best effort," said Keys, who was pallbearer at Richardson's funeral. "I know that whatever I do he's watching and won't settle for anything less than my best. He definitely influenced me to go out and try to fulfill my dreams -- that's what he was doing."

Nasonti said he didn't think he'd ever coached a player that experienced more turmoil and adversity in a short period than Keys did over the last few years.

Keys started at a new school. He lost a close friend. He was involved in legal proceedings stemming from a vandalism case in which Nasonti still backs his player. He finished second in a track event he dominated, and he was in the lead when he clipped the last hurdle and fell. He also had to deal with the uncertainty and concern that stems from his stepfather, James Arrington, fighting in Iraq.

Keys currently dreams of an elusive state title, team or individual, in track and setting foot on the football field for the first time as a Division I athlete.

Nasonti said that Keys' toughness, both mentally and physically, stood out.

"He moved the chains. That's what I'll remember," Nasonti said. "In the biggest games, he came up big."

Nasonti had so much faith in Keys that he wasn't even concerned if the opposition knew exactly what was coming.

In Keys' junior year, Nasonti yelled -- loud enough for everyone on the field to hear -- for quarterback Jon Journay to check to a run play.

Nasonti's primary objective was to keep the clock running late in the game against Norwalk. Keys, instead, burst for a game-clinching 55-yard touchdown.

All told, Keys has been a part of two NOL championship football teams that advanced to the postseason, rushed for 1,000-plus yards twice and finished as a runner-up three times and placed six times at state in track.

And it was all accomplished amidst a veritable storm as Keys developed into a breathtaking football player and a young man who teammates, peers, coaches and teachers believe to be genuinely special on and off the field.

"I've changed and matured a lot," Keys said of the adversity he has faced. "The picture and thoughts people had of me from two years ago, if they knew me now and saw how things are today, they wouldn't think those things. Greg Keys now and then is two totally different people."

And Bellevue was a totally different team.
 
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