If he glances across the field at the Howard sideline tonight, Kevin Carter is determined to see only Hustlin’ Tigers players and coaches.
The Central senior’s father is John Carter, an assistant for Howard coach Alvin Tarver.
“If I look over there and see him, I will see him as just another coach,” Kevin said. “I have to keep my mind focused on my job. This is a big game for Central, and Howard is a very fast, very disciplined team.”
For Coach Carter, who oversees the Tigers’ offensive line, this week has been about preparation for Kevin.
“We have to figure out some way to block him,” he said.
The game transcends a win or a loss although each Carter would love for his team to come out on top. It is about enhancing a father-son bond: Kevin lives with his mother and sister rather than his dad.
“I love him and he loves me. We’re becoming closer. Bonding more,” Kevin said.
“We get along for Kevin,” John said of his relationship with Kevin’s mother. “We both support Kevin and we both feel it’s about him and him achieving his goals and being successful in life, and not just in football or in high school. She realizes the importance of having me in his life.”
Last year John was inducted into the hall of fame at his alma mater, Ursuline High in Youngstown, Ohio. He was a high school football All-American before playing four years at Western Kentucky. He also is a 22-year veteran of the Chattanooga Police Department – a supervisor with sergeant’s stripes – who possesses a master’s degree in criminal justice from Atlantic International University and a Ph.D. in theology from Covington Theological Seminary.
“They call me ‘Officer,’ ‘Doctor,’ ‘Sergeant’ or ‘Coach.’ Nobody ever called me ‘Reverend,” John said. “My preaching has come through my coaching. That’s my ministry.”
On Monday the elder Carter said his relationship with Kevin this week and on Friday night would be no different, that it would be great. There was no bet, no loser-buys dinner.
“It isn’t necessary, because he’s my son and I’m his dad. That’s a bond in itself. Last year they beat us and he was well prepared,” he said.
He recalled that Kevin has had a year to crow about last year’s win and that he knew this game was on his son’s mind.
“We usually talk two or three times per week, and we’ve already talked six or seven times,” he said.
Kevin is just making sure he’s prepared and ready to take another stride in his father’s footsteps.
“I’m focused on getting good grades and doing what I can to try and make sure I get to play at the next level,” the 6-foot-1, 270-pounder said.
When asked what he liked to do when not playing football, Kevin talked about soaking up every day of his senior year.
“I like hanging out with my mother and sister, and I’m trying to live out my whole senior year while trying to live the life that God wants me to live,” he said.
Almost every thought and action is with college football in mind.
“Kevin is one of the hardest-working, most dedicated players I have ever coached,” first-year Central coach Sam Montgomery said. “I’m an old offensive lineman, so we have pushed those guys pretty hard. He has stepped up and done everything we have asked. He’s a special kid.”
Montgomery said the two-way lineman has attracted recruiters thus far from Middle Tennessee, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Western Kentucky, Carson-Newman, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Tuskegee and Alabama State.
Carter has the bloodlines. In addition to his dad playing at Western Kentucky, his grandfather was an All-American at Youngstown State and he had one uncle who played collegiately at Notre Dame and another at Ohio State.
“I think because of his dimensions he could play either side,” Montgomery said. “He is fast enough to play defense and thick enough to play offense. There’s no question he can play at the next level.”