Benicia’s Kendall Lane runs wild in playoff win
There is a common phrase thrown out in life that reads, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” On Friday night at Benicia High’s Drolette Stadium, the Panthers head football coach believed his running game wasn’t broke.
Against El Cerrito in the first round of the North Coast Section Division III playoffs, the Panthers went to the air less often than a penguin and that was just music to senior Kendall Lane’s ears.
Lane was one of many Benicia running backs that excelled in the 34-14 win, as he gained 143 yards on nine carries. One of those carries was a 70-yard touchdown run.
Lane is the Times-Herald’s Athlete of the Week.
“It makes us feel good to know that Coach Holden has that much confidence in us,” Lane said. “It makes us have the mindset where we want to work even harder because of the trust he has in us.”
Although the Benicia offense went to the ground more often than a grave digger, Holden’s choice to only attempt three passes during the contest was a no-brainer.
“We wanted to just keep giving Kendall and Maurian (Burrell) the ball over and over,” Holden said. “Create holes for them and let the athletes show what they can do.”
Earlier in the week it was quite the opposite with Kendall
Lane as he suffered a knee injury about a month ago. He barely played in the regular season finale against Ignacio Valley and then used the next two weeks off to get healthy.
“A lot of coaches wanted to keep playing, but I thought it was a benefit to have that extra week off that they (the North Coast Section) created due to the fires,” Holden said. “It allowed for some of us like Kendall to get healthy. The main thing was to get in his head that he was indeed, healthy. I’ve known Kendall since he was 7 and the one thing about him is he was never hurt. So when he’s hurt, you know it’s pretty serious. So we were cautious. On one of his first plays he ran for around 10 yards (nine) and I knew, ‘Oh, he’s back.’”
Holden and the Benicia faithful knew he was back even more on Lane’s second carry of the contest, a a 70-yard touchdown where he busted through the middle and then ran down the left side of the field. The score gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at 14-7 in the second quarter.
“Usually I read the two guard (Seth Patterson) and on this play I saw that he created this
big huge gap,” Lane said. “I also saw that the safety was trailing, so I went through the gap, gave a little juke to go to the outside and then ran the rest of the way for the touchdown.”
On Bencia’s next touchdown-scoring drive, Lane combined with Burrell to run 10 times in what resulted in a touchdown by Lane’s brother, Kameron. Kendall says he has a healthy competition with both Burrell and his brother than drives himself to be better.
“With Maurian, we kind of have this competition to see who can be the MVP,” Kendall Lane said, with a big smile. “We keep wondering who is going to get more scores and we keep
track of that. But we still support each other and want each other to succeed in games.
“With my brother (Kameron) he’s already going to Eastern Washington next fall, so with him I just want to make sure he maintain’s his great play.”
While Kendall Lane has been a force at running back, he’s also been solid at cornerback. He’s part of a Panther defense that has allowed just 101 points this season, less than 10 points a game.
“We work so hard in the offseason to get where we are today,” Kendall Lane said. “Coach (Scott) Swartz really worked hard with us and he wasn’t lying when he was saying where we could be if we put in the work. He’s a big reason for where we are it right now.”
Kendall Lane is still trying to figure out where he
will attend college and play football, and he isn’t sure what he will study once he gets there. That being said, Holden said that Kendall has a bright future working somehow with kids.
“He’s a great kid himself and he’s made to be with kids and working with them somehow whether it be teaching, coaching or something else,” Holden said. “If he’s not working with kids, man, there is something wrong with the world. He’s a great role model and other kids have their faces light up when they see him.”
Honorable mention
• Saleeena Bains, American Canyon girls soccer. Bains scored a goal in a 1-1 tie with Dixon on Friday night.
• Maurian Burrell, Benicia football. Burrell had
kickoff return for a touchdown and he rushed 15 times for 73 yards in a win over El Cerrito in the first round of the North Coast Section Division III playoffs.
• Vance Eschenburg, American Canyon football. Eschenburg completed 12 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown in a North Coast Section Division III playoff loss to Hayward.
• Kameron Lane, Benicia football. Lane had 63 yards rushing and scored two times on the ground. He also had a 58-yard punt return to set up one of the scores.
• Nikkea Youngblood, Bethel girls basketball. Youngblood had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a win over American Canyon on Friday night.