Kendall Hutchinson is no mascot. Don’t even think of mistaking him for one or he’ll bury a shoulder pad into your ribcage, no, make that your hip, and he won’t stop trying to tackle you until you’re flat on your back. Sure, tossing him aside is an option, but it will only momentarily postpone the inevitable: that Hutchinson will be right back on you, gnawing and clawing, until you’re one with the ground.
The OPRF sophomore who plays backup safety on the junior varsity football team has a heart the size of a brickhouse. The only thing is the brickhouse sits within a tent.
Hutchinson, 15, is 5-foot-1 and weighs in at just 96 pounds. He’s puny compared to his teammates, or to the Gatorade jug. But Hutchinson refuses to go unnoticed on a football or baseball field, or a wrestling mat.
Coaches say he volunteers for everything, even the most brutal drills. Need a wedge-buster on the kick-off? Hutchinson won’t hesitate. During pre-season summer camp, head coach Doug Brown asked for volunteers to fill in at the running back position. Hutchinson stepped his size 8 shoe right up.
If defensive coordinator Al Allen needs someone to show the proper tackling technique on Mark Willis, the biggest player on the team at 6-5, 220 pounds (size 17 shoe), Hutchinson is already in a 3-point stance.
“Yes, he’s undersized for a sophomore but not in heart,” says Allen of his diminutive player. “There has never been a time when someone is running at him full speed that he doesn’t try to take the guy on. If he gets run over, he gets up and chases the guy down from behind. He just never gives up.”
Brown calls Hutchinson the Energizer Bunny. “He never stops. He’s always giving 150-percent,” says Brown. “He is always where he’s supposed to be, doing the things we coach. I wish every kid on the team had his heart and character.”
Hutchinson’s father, Reese, says he’s been amazed by his son’s resolve and fearlessness.
“He’s doesn’t let his size bother him; he just goes out there and plays as if he’s as big as the next guy,” he says. “There’s nothing physically wrong with him, he just seems to be about two years behind in development.”
Talk about teenage anxiety. If being small wasn’t enough, Hutchinson has had to overcome other obstacles. Last year coaches had to order him a special helmet, but when it arrived, it was also too big, so he had to settle for a borrowed one of a different color from the youth football league.
“He takes it all in stride,” says Reese. “The only thing that might get to him is if his 11-year-old sister gets to be taller than him some day. That could be bad.”
Hutchinson-he’s been referred to as “Rudy” on the team (you know why, I don’t need to explain it)-has grown two inches since his freshman year.
“This may not even be a story next year,” says his father.
Heck, with the way he plays football, Hutchinson has convinced me this isn’t much of a story now.
Contact: bspencer@wjinc.com