Thursday, September 24, 2009
Radford High fullback raising the bar
Kevin Adkins, who's planning to be a lawyer, doesn't get many plays off for the 1-2 Bobcats.
Ray Cox | The Roanoke Times
Radford High School junior Kevin Adkins is a starter on both offense and defense at fullback and linebacker.
Ray Cox covers recreational, high school and college sports in the New River Valley. If you have information you’d like featured,
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Ray Cox
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RADFORD -- Kevin Adkins is still only a junior in high school, but he has already spent time thinking ahead to what he might one day do for a richly rewarding career.
At length, he decided he'd like to be a lawyer.
Why the law? One of the main reasons was that medicine was out.
"I can't take blood and such," he said.
Makes you wonder how he can stand football.
A little gore's never stopped him when it comes to the gridiron, though. Maybe he's just too cranked up when he takes the field with Radford High School's Bobcats to notice some of the distasteful details.
Whatever it is, he's capable of playing some bloodcurdling football if you're evaluating his game from an opposing perspective.
As a starter on both offense and defense at fullback and linebacker, the versatile Adkins has rolled up 246 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns in three games, leading the 1-2 Bobcats in both categories.
Playing weakside linebacker, he's fifth on the team in tackling points with 11 each solo tackles and assists.
Radford coach Matthew Saunders admires the way Adkins plays but doesn't want to overwork him, so the coach has rewarded him with some recuperative time on the bench during games.
Being excused from field goal and extra point squads (but not from the rest of the special teams) may not seem like much of a break, but that's all Adkins is going to get.
"I rarely leave the field," he said.
Don't think he's complaining, though.
"I love to play football," he said.
Adkins has been at it since he was 6. He's grown up since then. He's all the way up to 5-foot-10, 155 pounds.
"He's not a real big kid," Saunders said, "but he's strong."
Durable, too. He's never been hurt badly enough to require surgery, the very definition of football durability.
Which is good on a number of levels, not the least of which is that thing about blood he has.
"Something about cutting into people doesn't sit well with me," he said.
He'd rather try to cut through to the truth as a member of the bar. Aside from being attracted to the earnings potential of such a career, Adkins, an A student, has more practical considerations.
"I like to argue with people," he said.
In which case, he might also consider football coaching. There's something about black and white stripes and a whistle that brings out the inner litigator in any coach.
Adkins has some more playing to do right now. Ultimately, he'd love to see the game give him a shot at a spot on a college team.
"That or running track, either one," he said. "Anything for a college scholarship."
Adkins has got a combination of power and speed that is advantageous both for playing football and for running short and middle distances on the track.
Based on nothing more than his specialties in track, we know he's tough. His main events are the 400 and 800 meters and relays. When it comes to the 400 and 800, only the strong endure. Despite popular myth, mental instability is not also a requirement of these races.
Leave it at this: If Adkins can run the 800 (he placed at the state Group A outdoor meet last spring), then he certainly has the makeup to run between the tackles.
"He hits the hole quicker than any fullback we've had in a long time," Saunders said.
Adkins leads the team with 6.4 yards per carry, and that initial burst, as well as good eyes for seeing plays as or before they develop, has helped him. A similar knack for making a lot out of a little holds with his pass catching. He's only caught two balls, but he's averaged 40 yards per reception.
Adkins spent most of the year last season on the junior varsity team, where he played slotback. His speed and toughness earned him the job of fullback.
"If we ran that kind of offense, he'd be a tailback for us," Saunders said.
Since playing varsity, Adkins has seen some things he's never experienced before on a football field.
One was the gigantic crowd at the season opener against Pulaski County. Another was the 19-0 blown lead on the way to the 21-19 loss to George Wythe in the second game.
"That never should have happened," Adkins said.
The schedule's degree of difficulty maxes out Friday with a 7:30 p.m. trip to defending state champion Gretna. That shapes up to be a rugged night for Radford and its rarely rested fullback and linebacker.
In the language of the courtroom, there's no arguing that point.
