Kennard Was the Decoy

Jeff Kennard wears number 70 in the Reds spring training camp but he remembers the Saturday evening when his number was in the 80's.

The Colerain Cardinals were locked into to a knock, down drag out playoff game in Middletown 10 years ago.

Centerville, trailing 28-21 had scored a touchdown with less than two seconds on the game clock.

Do they kick to tie? Do they rely on the arm of Ryan Hawk to make a play on the two-point conversion?

Jeff Kennard has been drafted by the New York Yankees, has played winter baseball in Venzuela, where the game is taken seriously. Yet he remembered the play.

"I was the decoy underneath," Kennard told me today in the Reds clubhouse. "He (Hawk) threw it up top. I was open for a split second."

Kennard remembered seeing Jason Miller use all 6'1" of his body to extend across the end line and tip the pass away to give Colerain the victory. It was Kennard's junior season.

The pain he shares with Colerain fans comes the next year, his senior season. Centerville built a three touchdown lead only to have Elder storm back and defeat the Elk. Elder lost the next week to Wayne, who beat St. X. Wayne played St. Ignatius for the 1999 state title but fell short.