King Thriving at RB

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Beaumont, TEXAS- Heading into this week’s Southland Conference road game at Southeastern Louisiana, Lamar sophomore Kendrick King is excelling at a position he wasn’t recruited for.

With 250 rushing yards through the team’s first three games, he is by far the team’s leading running back. During his freshman season and spring camp, King played wide receiver. When he was recruited out of Hamshire-Fannett High School, he was a quarterback, though in an offense that gave him the option to act as a running back at times.

“That’s made it easier for me, because it’s kind of the same position,” King said. “(At Hamshire-Fannett), we ran kind of a Wing-T offense, so as a quarterback, you’re kind of a running back. You run the ball probably 75 percent of the time.

“Making the transition has its pros and cons. It’s been a little difficult with those big bodies inside and having to deal with those guys, but I have good teammates who have helped to make it a little easier to deal with.”

“We just knew he had the ability to do what was needed and what we wanted at running back,” said running backs coach Buchanan, who said King didn’t hesitate to make the change when approached about it last spring. “It’s well within his skill set and his God-given ability – we believed it would be better suited for him there in our offense.”

A past Beaumont Enterprise Super Gold honoree, King’s rushing totals have improved with each game. In the first game, against North Texas, he had 37 yards on 11 carries. He followed that with 93 yards on 15 carries against UT-Permian Basin and broke the 100-yard mark with 120 yards on 21 carries last Saturday against Northwestern State.

His season-high performance was one of a few bright spots coach Mike Schultz hopes carries over into Saturday.

“What I like about him is, right now, we’re actually seeing him grow as a player,” Schultz said. “It’s happening right in front of our eyes. He’s not a big, physical, over-domineering back, but you watch him on pass protection – when teams are sending in linebackers, Kendrick is not missing one blitz pickup. He steps up right into the teeth of their linebackers to block them and he’s taking care of his responsibilities when they send in guys on the outside.”

Another bright spot Schultz noted is is the offensive line, responsible for clearing the way for King, the rest of Lamar’s running backs and quarterback Darrel Colbert Jr.

As a team, Lamar’s rushing offense is currently second in the Southland, at 237 yards per game, though its rushing defense is last (232 yard per game). Both will be tested this weekend against Southeastern Louisiana, which has a stingier 181-yard average rushing defense and the Southland’s leading rushing offense (245 yards per game).

As for his season-high performance, King said the offensive line gave “111 percent.”

“It definitely makes my job easier,” King said. “You have to have a good relationship with the guys blocking for you. You can’t get on those guys’ bad side – bad things will happen to you.

“Everybody wants to do their job and that’s why our running game is rolling right now.”

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