Football statistics contain a lot of categories that start with “yards per.”
“Yards per carry.” “Yards per catch.” “Yards per punt.” And so on.
The way Concord running back Brian Kennedy is going this season, we'll have to add a new one: “Yards per touch.”
Kennedy got a “touch” (having the ball in his hands) just 20 times in Saturday's Homecoming win over Seton Hill.
But the exceptional work he did with that average amount of opportunities earned him the latest West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award.
In Saturday's 52-34 victory over Seton Hill, Kennedy set a Concord record with 296 yards rushing on only 16 carries. He ran for four touchdowns, each much longer than the one before – 3, 24, 56 and 76 yards.
He also caught two passes for 13 yards and returned two kickoffs for 82 yards.
All told, Kennedy piled up 391 total yards, or a robust 19.6 yards per touch.
Kennedy is the first WVIAC player to top 1000 yards rushing this season. His 1058 yards leads the league.
He's also the first Concord player to rush for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games – Kennedy ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns in CU's visit to Glenville State October 10.
“Brian Kennedy performs with a level of consistency that's hard to match,” Concord head coach Mike Kellar told cumountainlions.com after Saturday's Homecoming game. “It makes us very confident putting the ball in his hands. He runs so hard every time. As hard as he can. He really gives it all he has on every play.”
“Don't forget, he had two tackles on kickoff coverage, too.”
It's Kennedy's second POTW honor this season. He shared the award with West Liberty State's Willie Walker for the week of October 3, after compiling 251 total yards and four touchdowns in the Mountain Lions' game against Shepherd.
Concord has won or shared the conference Player of the Week award four times this season. DE Duke Adu was Defensive POTW September 26, and WR Thomas Mayo was Offensive POTW (and d2football.com's National Offensive Player of the Week) September 5.
Concord brings a record of 5-3, 3-3 WVIAC into the final home game of the season. The Mountain Lions host nationally-ranked UNC-Pembroke Saturday at 4:00 pm at Callaghan Stadium.
The game will be video-streamed at concord.edu/mltv, starting at kickoff.
Radio coverage will be on Classic Rock 102 The River (WMTD 102.3 FM), with streaming audio at theriver102.com, beginning with the “Mountain Lion Preview Show” at 3:30 pm.
