Coming into his senior season and with a new coaching staff in place at Dayton, Jaleel Kendrick was going to be looked upon to help at linebacker.
A team player with a light and infectious personality to him, Kendrick was ready for that role as well. But he has always been serious about what might be able to contribute on the offensive side of the ball.
So serious about running back, Kendrick chose to have that patch on his varsity jacket instead of a defensive one.
“I was really thinking I was going to be more of a defensive player,” Kendrick said this week. “I was focused more on defense. But I always had running back in mind.”
Back during healthier times for the Broncos’ offense, Kendrick, listed on the roster as a linebacker first and then running back, recorded five tackles in a 19-14 season-opening win over rival Crosby.
But during that game, lead rusher Denim Foster, a junior, suffered an injury – he still closed out that game – and Kendrick became the feature back of sorts with Foster sidelined the next couple games after that.
“He just kind of gravitated to it and saw more and more time on offense and just kept making plays,” Dayton coach Jerry Prieto said. “So we kept him full-time on offense. He’s been our most consistent producer on offense this year.”
That’s a fact.
With nearly 500 rushing yards, 200 receiving yards and five total touchdowns, Kendrick has given the Broncos some of their most joyous moments of the season.
“It was huge for him, huge for his confidence and huge for our team,” Prieto said. “His confidence has just grown throughout the year.”
Becoming the Dayton starting running back and a major contributor to the team didn’t happen overnight.
But Kendrick has always aspired to be a football player and contributor to the Broncos.
“I always wanted to play football,” Kendrick said. “Ever since I came out the womb, that’s just always what I think about is football.”
Growing up in Dayton and going to Bronco games, Kendrick could picture himself out there, showing off on a Friday night.
“I always wanted to be a Bronco,” Kendrick said. “I went to all of the games.”
Kendrick can recall playing schoolyard ball where skills were worked on and experience and lessons were learned.
“I was playing with all the neighborhood kids,” Kendrick said. “I was playing with the varsity kids when I was little out there.”
Kendrick started high school at Cleveland before eventually coming to Dayton near the end of his sophomore year.
On varsity his junior year under the previous coaching staff, Kendrick made 33 tackles on defense, including two sacks. He also toted the rock at running back 19 times over a span of six games, including a pair of touchdowns in a non-district win against Houston Waltrip (according to stats via MaxPreps).
Prieto, who became the Broncos’ head coach in February, first laid his eyes on Kendrick last spring.
“We were in track season when I came in and he was one of our best triple jumpers,” Prieto said. “I saw some film on him from last year. We knew we wanted to play him on offense some. But we saw him a little bit more as a defensive player for us.”
Kendrick’s heart – and varsity jacket patch, of course — has always been on being a running back.
“I’ve always been a running back,” he said.
While Foster’s injury was tended to against Crosby in Week 1, Kendrick took the ball for six carries and 42 yards.
The next week, sophomore quarterback Jerry Prieto Jr handed it off 14 times to Kendrick for 39 yards against Kingwood Park.
And in a 42-20 win at Porter the following week to close out the non-district slate, Kendrick went off.
“That was like my funnest game,” Kendrick explained. “My thoughts going in the game was go out there, have fun and do my thing. Just be me. Coach told me on the sideline that I have to be ‘that guy’ and make something happen.”
He had fun alright. And made something happen.
Kendrick had a varsity career-high 154 yards – his first 100-yard game – and two touchdowns against the Spartans.
“I can’t explain the feeling,” Kendrick said. “It was just very exciting to put some points on the board and reach the end zone. It was great to get that feeling.”
Foster returned when District 8-5A Division I started Sept. 27 at Montgomery, but he became the quarterback after halftime that night due to an injury to Prieto Jr. Kendrick had a handful of carriers, but the Broncos were forced to throw more often after falling behind to the Bears.
With the same offensive personnel in place the following week, Kendrick found the end zone again against Nederland on a 97-yard night.
A week later, on the third play of the night against Lake Creek, Kendrick exploded down the field on an inside handful. He might have been bumped into at the line of scrimmage, but from there, Kendrick was home free down the field for a 54-yard score.
It was a ‘sick’ play. For more than one reason.
“That one was kind of crucial,” Kendrick said. “I was feeling good during the run, but after I just started feeling a little queasy and my stomach hurt.”
Dayton is 2-5 and winless in district play with three games left, two of which are at home. There’s interest in college ball for Kendrick, and he still has some film to put together.
He’ll play in front of a home-friendly crowd Friday night against Splendora for homecoming.
“I’m just expecting for us to tighten up, come together and be strong,” Kendrick said. “We have been a little bit down. But I think we can come together to finish this thing out strong.”
