CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Walker Valley’s Kelvin Wells Jr. had a specific yet general plan coming into the 2010 football season.
“I was just going to do whatever the coaches told me I needed to do,” he said.
It was his plan to show the Mustangs staff that he deserved a spot on the field. Four games into the season, it’s going to be hard to take him off the field.
A foot injury to senior tailback Brad Davis forced the sophomore into a starting position, and Wells has responded by leading the area with 582 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Wells has averaged more than 190 yards per game in three starts, while helping Walker Valley to a 2-2 record heading into tonight’s game against District 5-AAA foe Soddy-Daisy – ranked 11th in the latest Class 6A poll.
Wells admitted not knowing the extent of his friend’s injury, noting that he didn’t realize Davis was hurt badly until “I saw him limping around the house a couple days later.
“The next day at practice, Coach [Glen] Ryan sat me down and told me that I needed to focus more on my game,” Wells said. “That Friday, I did what I did and God blessed us with a win.”
Wells had 125 yards in a 28-27 victory over Brainerd. He followed that up with 293 yards – the best single-game performance in the area this year – in a 42-20 loss to district opponent Rhea County.
Head coach Ted Lockerby acknowledged that he did not know what to expect from Davis’ replacement.
“We just hoped he would try to pick up the load offensively,” Lockerby said. “The thought was that he didn’t have Brad’s game-breaking speed, but Kelvin has surprised us. As a coach, it’s what you hope for. That’s why you tell the backups to be ready. You want them to be as good as the first string.
“Kelvin’s worked hard, hit the holes and took the tough yards, and when the opportunity was there, he’s been able to spring some good runs.”
Wells said the growth of the offensive line – where three sophomores start and, due to injury, a fourth may start tonight – has been big in helping him gain yardage.
“In the preseason, everybody said that the offensive line was our weakness. Neither Brad nor I could get any yards in scrimmages,” Wells said. “Since the season has started, they’ve banded together and started handling people.”
Lockerby and his assistants now face a dilemma a lot of coaches would love to have – trying to figure out how best to use both Wells and the now-healthy Davis, who had 182 yards rushing and three total touchdowns in an opening-week loss to Class 6A fifth-ranked Bearden. They want to have both on the field at the same time.
“That’s the goal now that both of them are healthy,” Lockerby said. “We’ll have one at running back and the other at wingback, and we’re trying to spread the ball around a bit. Having both on the field means they can’t key on one, because if you focus on Kelvin, Brad can break a big one and vice versa.
“It gives us some more dimensions and opens things up in the running game.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6311.