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ELDERSBURG, Md.--After what he did to a Maryland high-school opponent on Friday afternoon, you could just see 3-star commit Terence Kerns in a WVU uniform.
Like on a Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.
That may be a bit far-fetched, but there is no doubting the 6-foot-1, 212 pounder with a 4.38 personal best in the 40-yard-dash will be ready made for college ball when he arrives on the WVU campus.
One of two 3-star tailbacks committed to WVU (Louisville St. Xavier's Victor Anderson is the other), Kerns personally helped take out Century High here 26-12. He carried 21 times for 278 yards and 3 TDs for his Class 4A Frederick Thomas Johnson club, which ran its record to 4-0
The numbers for Kerns may have been skewed for two reasons.
One, the opponent was a Class 2A school playing with lineman smaller than the bullish back. Two, Kerns touched the ball little in the second half after his team took a 20-12 half-time lead. Nonetheless, Century had a "spy" keyed on Kerns on every play. Even when he failed to carry, he was being hit by at least one defender. Most of them just slid off.
"I know it wasn't one," he said when asked how many could pull him down. "I messed up a couple of times because of my hand--I didn't get the little guys off me. I gotta work on that. In the open field, there would be a little guy right there. I should have run hard over him, but instead, I stumbled a little bit," he said.
Kerns carried 13 times for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of play, including scoring gallops of 65 and 48 yards in the first 10 minutes of action
The main reason Kerns carried just 8 times for 56 yards in the second half was because his bulging right calf muscle cramped up after half time. TJ mostly used him as a decoy, though he did score on a 14-yard run.
"Then when I tried to walk off (the muscle pull), I caught another one on my left," he said. "I drank so much water today. I ate like five bananas (for potassium). I probably didn't stretch enough before the game. I'm always so hyped up. I gotta stretch a little more," TK said.
Kerns' total yardage was a career single-game best. He rushed for 263 yards against Tuscarora in 2005.
"We didn't play all that well, but that youngster can run, can't he," said TJ coach Ben Wright after the game. "He's only going to get better too."
"I'm only worried about getting that 10-0 record and getting into the playoffs," Kerns said after the game. "We haven't been there in I don't know how long. I want to win it for Coach Wright in (my) senior year.
"I'd say it's been three or four, maybe five, years since the Patriots made the playoffs," he said.
The high-school senior also has WVU on his mind. He came to the Sept. 14 victory over Maryland at Milan Puskar Stadium. He said he would likely return for the Oct. 14 homecoming game against Syracuse, pending his schedule.
Where he once wore a Maryland T-shirt proudly, the Terps' shirt is gone, replaced with a WVU shirt. He refuses to wear that one. It is on his bedroom wall.
"I bought one out in the parking lot and I wore it up there," he said.
What has been the effect of an early commitment on the current season?
"You know, (committing to) West Virginia and getting that off my shoulders has been good. But I work hard on this football field so I can keep my scholarship," he said.
Maryland laid off Kerns' recruitment early because of his GPA. This summer, lead recruiter Bill Stewart got a commitment out of the 4.38 40-yard-dash sprinter.
Kerns has not wavered. Stewart and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee saw Kerns in person in the season-opening win over Middletown, and have stayed in touch since.
Kerns said Friday night that he had made As, Bs and a few Cs on his fall term tests and quizzes. He had a solid summer term making up previous poor grades. Coach Wright said the tailback's standardized test score already qualifies. He has set his sights on earning a graduating GPA that will make him eligible to be with the Mountaineers in June.
He said, he is paying for poor academics during his freshman and sophomore years at the Frederick school.
"I didn't have my head on straight. I made up some classes over the summer and now I am taking only my core classes this semester and next semester," he said.
Kerns runs hard between whistles, but on his first two touchdowns here, he took a toss and swept around end without being touched on a 65-yard gallop. On the second play, he went off-tackle through a wide lane and again no defender got a hand on him on his 48-yard dash. He ran into the second wave of the Knights' defense for his last score (14 yards) where he carried three players into the end zone.
"That was all the line. Yes-sir. That was all the line," Kerns said of his first two TD carries. "I had some great downfield blocking for me as well," he said.
"Coach tells me before every single game, 'Don't stop until you hear the whistle sound. Our O-line opened things up. They're good; they just have to keep their heads on straight," said Kerns.
MogKupo1 (8:36:27 PM): He paid equal homage to his fullback, a tiny youngster who led him off-tackle on TD run No. 2. As they came to the sidelines, Kerns put one of his muscular arms around his blocking back.
"He's my man," the tailback said.
Kerns' major test comes in two weeks against equally undefeated Urbana.
Like on a Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.
That may be a bit far-fetched, but there is no doubting the 6-foot-1, 212 pounder with a 4.38 personal best in the 40-yard-dash will be ready made for college ball when he arrives on the WVU campus.
One of two 3-star tailbacks committed to WVU (Louisville St. Xavier's Victor Anderson is the other), Kerns personally helped take out Century High here 26-12. He carried 21 times for 278 yards and 3 TDs for his Class 4A Frederick Thomas Johnson club, which ran its record to 4-0
The numbers for Kerns may have been skewed for two reasons.
One, the opponent was a Class 2A school playing with lineman smaller than the bullish back. Two, Kerns touched the ball little in the second half after his team took a 20-12 half-time lead. Nonetheless, Century had a "spy" keyed on Kerns on every play. Even when he failed to carry, he was being hit by at least one defender. Most of them just slid off.
"I know it wasn't one," he said when asked how many could pull him down. "I messed up a couple of times because of my hand--I didn't get the little guys off me. I gotta work on that. In the open field, there would be a little guy right there. I should have run hard over him, but instead, I stumbled a little bit," he said.
Kerns carried 13 times for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of play, including scoring gallops of 65 and 48 yards in the first 10 minutes of action
The main reason Kerns carried just 8 times for 56 yards in the second half was because his bulging right calf muscle cramped up after half time. TJ mostly used him as a decoy, though he did score on a 14-yard run.
"Then when I tried to walk off (the muscle pull), I caught another one on my left," he said. "I drank so much water today. I ate like five bananas (for potassium). I probably didn't stretch enough before the game. I'm always so hyped up. I gotta stretch a little more," TK said.
Kerns' total yardage was a career single-game best. He rushed for 263 yards against Tuscarora in 2005.
"We didn't play all that well, but that youngster can run, can't he," said TJ coach Ben Wright after the game. "He's only going to get better too."
"I'm only worried about getting that 10-0 record and getting into the playoffs," Kerns said after the game. "We haven't been there in I don't know how long. I want to win it for Coach Wright in (my) senior year.
"I'd say it's been three or four, maybe five, years since the Patriots made the playoffs," he said.
The high-school senior also has WVU on his mind. He came to the Sept. 14 victory over Maryland at Milan Puskar Stadium. He said he would likely return for the Oct. 14 homecoming game against Syracuse, pending his schedule.
Where he once wore a Maryland T-shirt proudly, the Terps' shirt is gone, replaced with a WVU shirt. He refuses to wear that one. It is on his bedroom wall.
"I bought one out in the parking lot and I wore it up there," he said.
What has been the effect of an early commitment on the current season?
"You know, (committing to) West Virginia and getting that off my shoulders has been good. But I work hard on this football field so I can keep my scholarship," he said.
Maryland laid off Kerns' recruitment early because of his GPA. This summer, lead recruiter Bill Stewart got a commitment out of the 4.38 40-yard-dash sprinter.
Kerns has not wavered. Stewart and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee saw Kerns in person in the season-opening win over Middletown, and have stayed in touch since.
Kerns said Friday night that he had made As, Bs and a few Cs on his fall term tests and quizzes. He had a solid summer term making up previous poor grades. Coach Wright said the tailback's standardized test score already qualifies. He has set his sights on earning a graduating GPA that will make him eligible to be with the Mountaineers in June.
He said, he is paying for poor academics during his freshman and sophomore years at the Frederick school.
"I didn't have my head on straight. I made up some classes over the summer and now I am taking only my core classes this semester and next semester," he said.
Kerns runs hard between whistles, but on his first two touchdowns here, he took a toss and swept around end without being touched on a 65-yard gallop. On the second play, he went off-tackle through a wide lane and again no defender got a hand on him on his 48-yard dash. He ran into the second wave of the Knights' defense for his last score (14 yards) where he carried three players into the end zone.
"That was all the line. Yes-sir. That was all the line," Kerns said of his first two TD carries. "I had some great downfield blocking for me as well," he said.
"Coach tells me before every single game, 'Don't stop until you hear the whistle sound. Our O-line opened things up. They're good; they just have to keep their heads on straight," said Kerns.
MogKupo1 (8:36:27 PM): He paid equal homage to his fullback, a tiny youngster who led him off-tackle on TD run No. 2. As they came to the sidelines, Kerns put one of his muscular arms around his blocking back.
"He's my man," the tailback said.
Kerns' major test comes in two weeks against equally undefeated Urbana.
