To show just how high-flying Concord’s football game at West Liberty State was on Saturday, the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has named not one, but two players from that contest as co-Offensive Players of the Week – including CU’s Brian Kennedy.
The sophomore running back carried the ball 27 times for 234 yards and three touchdowns, including an electrifying 59-yard dash early in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy also caught four passes for 43 yards and another touchdown, and returned three kickoffs for another 84 yards.
All told, that’s 361 all-purpose yards.
It’s the third POTW honor for Kennedy this season. He shared the award with West Liberty’s Willie Walker for the week of October 3, after recording 251 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns against Shepherd. Kennedy won the honor outright for the week of October 17; against Seton Hill on Concord’s Homecoming, Kennedy rushed for four touchdowns and a school-record 296 yards, and ended up with 391 all-purpose yards in the Mountain Lions’ 52-34 victory.
Two other Concord players have earned Player of the Week distinction this season.
Harlon Hill Award finalist Thomas Mayo earned Offensive POTW honors September 5, after he set a school record with 293 yards receiving and tied a school record with 16 receptions in Concord’s 52-45 overtime win over Lenoir-Rhyne.
Mayo caught three touchdowns in that game, including the game-winner in OT.
Defensive end Duke Adu won the WVIAC Defensive Player of the Week award September 26. The senior recorded seven tackles, four tackles-for-loss for 17 yards, and a quarterback sack in Concord’s 25-14 win over West Virginia State. The Concord defense allowed the Yellow Jackets only four yards rushing and 208 total yards.
Kennedy shares this week’s POTW honor with West Liberty State’s Ryan Travis and the University of Charleston’s DeRante Hunter.
Travis caught nine passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and threw for a 71-yard touchdown on a double-pass on the game’s first play, in the Hilltoppers’ 64-42 win over Concord.
Hunter rushed for three touchdowns, giving him 23 on the season, and was 9-11 passing for 229 yards and another TD in the Golden Eagles’ 57-25 win over West Virginia Wesleyan.
Kennedy won the WVIAC rushing title with 1505 yards. It’s the second-highest single-season total in Concord history, behind only Chris Hairston’s 1860 yards in 1992, and the 10th-highest in WVIAC history.
Kennedy’s 120 points scored is the 10th-highest ever in the WVIAC.
Mayo won the WVIAC receiving title with 1368 yards. It’s a school record, and the 5th-highest single-season total in conference history.
Mayo is one of six finalists in Super Region One for this year’s Harlon Hill Award, given to the nation’s top player in NCAA Division II. The winner will be announced December 11.