By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan has gotten used to Evan Kennedy doing amazing things, but even for Kennedy this was different.

Kennedy topped 100 receiving yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game on Friday, a unique football double-double, as West Rowan beat Central Cabarrus 37-26 to stay alive for a 3A playoff berth.

Kennedy achieved more than 100 rushing yards three times as a sophomore and had more than 100 receiving yards twice, but not in the same game.

“Kennedy is special almost every game,” West Rowan head coach Louis Kraft said. “And there are nights when he’s Superman.”

Kennedy is one of only two athletes in county history with both a 200-yard rushing game (243 vs. South Rowan) and a 200-yard receiving game (227 vs. Davie). West’s Jalen Houston is the only other player in the county record book who has accomplished that feat.

If it seems like Kennedy has been around forever, it’s because he was playing varsity football as a freshman, but Kennedy is still only a junior. He’s in the Class of 2025.

“I’d always been a running back growing up, but when I got to West they had Akin Robinson and Cayleb Brawley to run the ball, so they wanted to try me at receiver,” Kennedy said. “Last year I was mostly a receiver, but I stepped in at running back for a few games when Landon Jacobs was hurt. This season it’s been different. This season I’ve been used as both a receiver and a running back in the same game. I like doing both. We’ve got a running back who’s doing a great job (Jaylen Neely), but I can help run the ball against the tougher teams.”

West goes into games open-minded about how to employ the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Kennedy. The Falcons will see what the defense tries to take away and use Kennedy accordingly.

“Central Cabarrus showed us a defensive look that we liked, and we knew we could run the ball,” Kennedy said. “I’ve also built a connection with our quarterback (Brant Graham) and was able to make some plays in the passing game. He knows he can trust me to catch the ball.”

Graham, a sophomore, surpassed 1,000 passing yards for the season in the Central Cabarrus game. About 60 percent of Graham’s passing yards have come on throws to Kennedy, who has 34 catches for 624 yards and six touchdowns. He has at least one TD catch in West’s last four games.

Kennedy has contribute to the ground game with 57 carries for 277 yards.

“We know we can put Kennedy at any position, and he’s going to produce — we just have to get him the football,” Kraft said. “He’s athletic and he’s smart. He didn’t have the start to this season that he wanted to have or that we wanted him to have. Part of that was ankle injury he suffered in practice. But he’s back to being himself now, and when he’s right, we’ll go, as he goes.”

Kennedy even plays on some special teams. Aubree Robinson had a kickoff return touchdown and a punt return touchdown on Friday.

Kennedy made a key block on the kickoff return.

“I spun around and was confused for a second when the ball went over me, but then I saw Aubree coming and I saw a big hole,” Kennedy said. “I told him to follow me.”

Kennedy is a star who doesn’t mind doing the little things. He blocks.

“Coming out of the slot, he’ll drill a linebacker,” Kraft said. “He does everything well on a football field.”

Kennedy has had the benefit of tutelage from his older brother. Tyler Kennedy was a starting DB, but he made his mark for the Falcons a decade ago as a devastating return man on kickoffs and punts.

“Tyler was an amazing return man,” Evan said. “He saw things different on the field. He saw things as a returner that no one else could see. He’s been a huge help with my career.”

Evan Kennedy’s career so far looks like this: 1,044 rushing yards and 1,314 receiving yards, so he’s on the all-time leaderboard in both categories. He has 14 rushing touchdowns and 12 receiving touchdowns, plus a kickoff return TD against North Rowan last year.

He would have more yards and scores, but he missed the final regular-season game last season and the playoffs with an injury.

West is scheduled to play at Concord on Friday. That figures to be a tough game, with both teams fighting for third place in the South Piedmont Conference.

“I don’t know exactly what my role will be, but we’ll find out what’s working,” Kennedy said. “Concord has a good team, a very athletic defense, but we’ll be ready.”

Kraft echoed those thoughts.

“This might be one of those Fridays when we need Kennedy to be Superman,” he said.