Two Blackhawks to play college football

Following their dreams, two Blackhawks will trade their high school football jerseys for college jerseys.

Kameron Jennings and Thomas Lammey have both received letters to play college football.

"We're proud of them, they're going to go on and not only get to continue playing football -- a dream of a lot of guys who come through high school have, but the most important thing is, continuing their education," head Blackhawk coach Tony Travis said.

Jennings, 18, is the son of Curtis Jennings and Maurica Avant. He played football throughout his elementary career and stopped playing in seventh grade because of asthma.

"I've had asthma as a child. I used to feel I was more of a burden than helping my team. It bothered me for a long time," Jennings said, adding that it wasn't anything his team mates did. "I was embarrassed by it."

"Then, coach asked me to come back my sophomore year. I joined up off-season," he said. The 6'4", 255-pound defensive tackle has been offered a spot at Lyon College, but is also considering Hendrix.

"The one thing I like the most, that makes me keep doing it, is that this year, we were really like family, we all got along. It was like having 60 brothers," Jennings said.

He plans to major in history and get a secondary education and coaching endorsement to teach history in high school and coach.

Although he still has asthma, Jennings says that as he keeps with conditioning, the better he feels. "The more I run, the more I work with it, the more effort I put into it, the better I get."

He praised coach Lafe Caton for "pushing" him.

"The man pushed. He never stopped pushing. I came up to the weight room in my first off-season and couldn't squat the bar because I couldn't do it right. He never even let me think about stopping. He drove me to perfection," he recalled. "It got kind of irritating, it sucked at the time, but every bit of it was worth it. I appreciate it now."

"The main thing is I want to thank God. I never thought I'd make it to college football. Pee Wee was okay," Jennings said. "I thank God for giving me an opportunity to enjoy one of the greatest things on earth."

Jennings and Lammey both said their most memorable moment in Blackhawk football was the win against Shiloh this year.

"Beating Shiloh! I played Pee Wee football with them, played a little baseball," Jennings said, "but, the last game of our season, to take the victory, over what had been our rival since Pee Wee, that was pretty sweet!"

Lammey, 17, the son of Martin and Laurie Lammey, was a lineback for the Blackhawks. He played football since fourth grade. He has been offered a spot at Misouri Science and Technology where he hopes to major in metallurgy.

"The adrenaline and the time, all the work you have to put towards it, when the work pays off, it pays off really good," Lammey said of playing football.

He recalls his worst moment in football was his junior year when he had knee surgery, had recovered, then had a mid-foot sprain during the Pride Night game.

"I had worked my way back and was probably going to have a starting position, but that put me out for over half the season," he said.

"As for college ball, he said: "I'm hoping that I can keep a good thing going with football, hoping I can help out that team pretty good."

Sports on 03/04/2015