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Eastwood football coach Jerry Rutherford has a lot of admiration for players like Alex Keyes, guys who know their roles and aren't afraid to give up the spotlight for their teammates.
Make no mistake, Keyes is a very good football player. He is a two-year starter at safety and this year he starts in the Eagles' offensive backfield along with Isaiah and Zach Conkle, both 1,200-yard rushers.
“He doesn't get quite the press that the Conkles get, but he's done a great job for us,” Rutherford said. “He complements those guys. He's a tremendous blocker and he is unselfish.”
The 5-foot-8, 161-pound Keyes has started the past eight games at right halfback and has 48 carries for 422 yards (8.8 average) and four touchdowns. He carried 10 times for a team-high 90 yards and scored on a 33-yard run in the third quarter as the Eagles ended Genoa's 48-game regular-season winning streak with a 25-23 victory over the host Comets on Oct. 28.
Keyes, who also has five catches for 38 yards and one touchdown, said he could care less who gets the bulk of the carries and rushing yards in Eastwood's vaunted wing-T offense.
“Zach and Isaiah are two of my best friends,” Keyes said. “I have a lot of classes with them. We always block for each other and we do whatever it takes to get the other person in the end zone. It doesn't matter to me at all. I just want to win. It's fun to block for my teammates, the Conkles, and just watch them score. It's great.”
The fourth-ranked Eagles (11-0), the inaugural Northern Buckeye Conference champions, are coming off a 31-0 shutout of Ottawa-Glandorf in the first round of the Division IV playoffs. Eastwood faces second-ranked Columbus Bishop Hartley (10-0), the defending state champion, in the second round on Saturday.
“It's going to be a great experience,” Keyes said. “They're a really good football team, but I really think we can come out on the winning end.”
That kind of confidence has carried the Eagles ever since their season-opening win at Patrick Henry. The Eastwood players know that to advance this weekend, they will have to play their game.
While the Eagles' offense gets most of the publicity, it may be the defense that has played the most crucial role in their unbeaten season thus far. Through 11 games Eastwood has forced 37 turnovers (26 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries) and committed just eight turnovers.
“We always talk about getting to the ball,” Keyes said. “Not just one person wants to make the tackle. We all want to make the tackle. The defensive backs always want to make a play on the ball and get a turnover as many times as we can.”
Keyes has three interceptions and is the team's fourth-leading tackler, with 67. He has also recovered one fumble, knocked down five passes and has three tackles for loss.
“He's just a guy who does his job,” Rutherford said. “We have a lot of guys like him on the team. He'll block anybody. It's great to see a kid who's worked as hard as he does be a part of this and have the success he's having and the team's having. He doesn't get the carries that the Conkle brothers get, he just does his job. Because of guys like him, the Conkles do what they do.”
Keyes, whose dad, Rick, has been an assistant on Rutherford's staff for years, remembers watching the Eagles practice as a water boy in the second grade. Now, he finds himself as a major contributor to what could prove to be the most successful season in school history.
“It's been great,” Keyes said. “Nobody expected us to come this far at all. This has been the most exciting season I've ever been a part of.”
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