Centennial’s Clark seizes moment on football field
Kavaughn Clark learned the hard way how to get ready to play football at Peoria Centennial High School.
When he was little, he’d take his ball into the backyard, where older brother Kieran took him on in one-on-one tackling drills. In full pads.
Kieran was a star cornerback at Centennial during the Zidane Thomas era, a time when Thomas was running through and around defenders on his way to touchdowns. From 2015-17, Centennial went 38-5 and Thomas ran for 4,011 yards with 44 TDs.
“Me and him used to go in pads,” Kavaughn said of his brother Kieran. “He’d go out there and kill me, and I’d be crying and stuff. They’d make me stay out there and go with him.”
It actually developed a close bond between brothers. Kieran is now playing at Nevada, which offered Kavaughn a football scholarship last year when he was freshman.
It’s been his only offer.
But after what Kavaughn has been doing lately, more offers are expected to come.
After discovering what kind of dynamo he can be late in the season, coach Richard Taylor has turned Clark loose in the backfield, reminding people of Thomas.
“We’ve been alternating two backs,” Taylor said. “Both have been doing a good job.
“I’ve been a long-time believer that running backs don’t really get started until carry 10 or 12. He’s feeling things out. With our line, I think we finally figured out what the line can do. When they all come off and they’re this tall. Linebackers are trying to find the running back and he’s right by them.”
In his first three games, Clark had a total of 10 carries.
In his last five games, he has gone over 100 yards in each game as his reps increased.
He ran for 105 yards on nine carries against Pinnacle, 118 yards on 23 carries against Chandler, 102 yards on 10 carries against Brophy Prep.
In the last two games, it’s been Clark and more Clark. He had 284 yards and four TDs on 24 carries in a 42-28 win over Chaparral, a game in which he broke open a 28-28 game in the final quarter with scoring runs of 20 and 86 yards.
Last week, he ran for 223 yards and three TDs in a 34-24 comeback win over Peoria Liberty that gave Centennial the No. 4 seed in the Open.
“I always kind of know what I can do,” Clark said. “The offensive line has been playing so good lately. It’s been phenomenal to come out with those guys blocking for you.”
Clark still shares reps with James Scott, who was out earlier this season for 10 days while in COVID-19 quarantine.
Scott is built along the same lines as Clark. Both are low to the ground with powerful legs. Scott is 5-foot-8, 185 pounds. Clark is 5-8, 180. Scott has 499 rushing yards and eight TDs on 86 carries. Clark has 880 yards and nine TDs on 105 carries.
“I was 100% ready (for more playing time),” Clark said. “I just executed.
“It’s just instincts. Everything kind of goes in slow motion for me.”