Kaden Jenks: The biggest slight of all

I wrote about Royal quarterback Kaden Jenks in the Sidelines of Dec. 15, saying he was the logical choice for state player of the year among class A football all-state selections. He was not chosen.

The selections the Knights got were deserved, but more should have been forthcoming. They were slighted, especially on defense.

Player of the year went to a running back from Vashon Island. Bryce Hoisington rushed the ball for 2,929 yards. His team finished 4-6 and lost to a Charles Wright Academy team that was swamped, 69-0, by Jenks and the Royal Knights.

Those 2,929 yards can’t be ignored, but they do not overshadow Jenks’s record this year. And they probably mean Hoisington played every down of all of his team’s 10 games against questionable competition.

Jenks had 14 games in which to make his case. But he played only half a game seven times and three-fourths of a game three times.

Prosser quarterback Tanner Bolt was named the 2A player of the year along with all-state first team quarterback. He threw an interception near the end of the 2A championship game that could have handed Tumwater the game. He was saved by the stellar Mustang defense.

Bolt had a great passing record. His passes covered 3,294 yards and produced 43 touchdowns during the season on 62 percent completions, and he was intercepted 13 times. He went 21-for-35 (60 percent) in the title game, produced three touchdowns and covered 280 yards. That’s a player-of-the-year performance.

Jenks was a little better, completing 65 percent of his passes. And he protected the ball better. While throwing 45 touchdown passes and rushing for nine more, he was intercepted only twice.

In the title game against King’s, Jenks went 17-for-25 (68 percent) for 242 yards and was not intercepted. He scored on the run, and running back Joe Lang scored twice on the run. But it was Jenks who produced those touchdowns by taking his team to the doorstep of the end zone.

I watched both quarterbacks on championship day. Bolt, the 2A player of the year, was not the equal of Jenks, who should have been the 1A player of the year. I’m betting Jenks will play first in college and for a better program than Bolt.

Ask the sports staff at the Tri-City Herald. They saw both quarterbacks perform and chose Jenks as the first team quarterback on their all-region team. They placed him ahead of all 2A, 3A and 4A quarterbacks in the region, including Bolt..

Late in the season, I was chatting with a referee before a Royal game, and I asked what he thought of the Royal team.

“I’ve seen them play five times now, and there is not a better team around,” he said.

That’s exactly what I thought. This year’s football Knights were special, mostly because of a special quarterback. Outsiders I spoke with thought the same. They would have beaten most 2A schools, a lot of 3As and some 4As.

The Knights will be good, maybe even great next year. They have so much talent returning (36 lettermen) and coming up you can’t believe it.

If they are to be special, that will probably be up to Jenks. I wouldn’t bet against him.

It would be justice to see the kid who should have been player of the year in the face of AP voters with his passes next year.