DARKE COUNTY – Two seniors who are putting up huge statistics for their teams are this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week.
This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Arcanum football player Brandon Kinney and Franklin Monroe volleyball player Emilee Morris.
In the past week Morris has broken two Franklin Monroe volleyball records. First on Monday the Lady Jet senior broke FM’s single season digs record at Milton-Union. The following day against Mississinawa Valley Morris broke the school’s career digs record.
“Emilee has been a key player for us this season,” Franklin Monroe volleyball coach Angie Filbrun said, “a great leader on the floor and very consistent in her play.”
This season Morris is second among Darke County girls with 324 digs, averaging 5.8 digs per set.
In addition to being one of the area’s best at digging, she’s also third on her team with 20 assists, fourth on her team with 45 kills and fourth on her team with 13 aces.
“She is a smart player and sees the floor very well,” Filbrun said.
With the leadership of Morris, Franklin Monroe has built a 7-4 record in the Cross County Conference this season.
“I’m so proud of Emilee and all she has accomplished this year,” Filbrun said.
Kinney is third in Darke County with 607 rushing yards, scoring 11 touchdowns in the process. He also is second on his team with eight catches for 144 yards, taking five of his eight receptions into the end zone. With his 344 return yards, he has almost 1,100 all-purpose yards.
“He’s done a great job this year,” Arcanum football coach TJ Powers said. “He’s a workhorse. He’s one of the best running backs I’ve been around – and linebackers for that matter. He’s an all-around football player. I say if you have 11 of him you’re going to win every game.”
Kinney leads all Darke County football players with 58 tackles through six weeks this season. Additionally he has one interception, one sack and one tackle for loss.
The only time Kinney comes off the field is during point after touchdown attempts.
“He’s just a play-maker,” Powers said. “The goal is to get him the ball about 25 times a game. We can do that, generally good things happen.”
The past two weeks in Arcanum’s firs two wins of the season Kinney had huge games.
Last week against National Trail Kinney had five touchdowns including four touchdown runs and one touchdown reception. He had 148 rushing yards and 46 receiving yards in the game.
The previous week Kinney had 123 rushing yards and 22 receiving yards plus one touchdown against Twin Valley South. He also made 17 tackles and intercepted a pass that night.
“He’s just consistent,” Powers said. “And one thing about Brandon he does it every day in practice. He’s the first one on the field and the last one to leave. Offseason, just works his tail off in the weight room.”
