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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Hutchinson Community College all-conference
linebacker Antwon Canady became the second Blue Dragon from head coach Rion
Rhoades first Blue Dragon team to sign with a Division I football power.
Canady, on Saturday at the HCC Humiston
Center, signed a letter of intent to play at Louisville University.
“Louisville was the first school I really
wanted to go to,” Canady said. “I started talking to them in high school. I
also talked to Arkansas and Texas Tech, but Louisville was really the school
I wanted to go to.”
Canady becomes the first Blue Dragon to sign
with a Big East Conference school. He is also the first Blue Dragon to ever
sign at Louisville.
“I’ve been around a lot of players who had
the opportunity to play major college football. I’ve never been as excited
as I am with Antwon signing,” Rhoades said. “Antwon’s been such a good guy
for us. He helped us turn the corner and get things going.
“But because of HCC alumni Billy Miller being
there, he’s going to have a great position coach at Louisville.”
Canady, a 6-foot-1, 236-pound redshirt-freshman
from Swainsboro, Ga., was the Blue Dragons’ leading tackler in 2007 with 106
tackles, 52 solo stops.
He was the Jayhawk Conference leader in
tackles per game at 11.8 tackles per game, third in the league in tackles
for loss (17.5) and ninth in quarterback sacks (7).
In nine games, Canady had double-figure
tackles in seven games, including a career-high 15 stops three times against
Coffeyville, Dodge City and Butler.
Canady had three fumble recoveries and five
quarterback hurries in a spectacular season for the Blue Dragons.
Canady redshirted his freshman season and
became one of the strongest Blue Dragons with his constant work in the
weight room.
“My redshirt year benefited me,” Canady said.
“I’m came into a great situation when Coach Rhoades was hired. Now I have
three years left to play at the Division I level.”
Canady is the second Blue Dragon to sign
Division I from the 2007 team. Quarterback Chris Todd signed at Auburn
University and is currently enrolled and competing for the starting job in
the Tigers’ spring drills.
Other Blue Dragons signing with four-year
schools are:
+ Quarterback Chris Todd (Elizabethtown Ky.),
Auburn University
+ Defensive lineman Brandon Kush (Louisburg,
Kan.), Central Arkansas University
+ Linebacker Dustin Heckroth (Salina, Kan.),
Pittsburg State University
+ Offensive lineman Bryant Yoder (Hutchinson,
Kan.), Southeastern Oklahoma State University
+ Linebacker Josh Fiscus (Stafford, Kan.),
Fort Hays State University
OTHER QUOTES
Antwon Canady
On moving from outside linebacker to
middle linebacker …
“The linebacker has to be able to take
control of the defense. I made the transition from Sam Linebacker to the
middle and I felt more comfortable in the middle. I made more plays and I
felt like I was in control at that position.”
Head Coach Rion Rhoades
On how the redshirt season helped Canady
progress …
“The thing that all redshirt guys have to do
is knock the rust off a little bit. He brings such a fire to the table as a
football player. He’s going to be successful anywhere he goes. He wanted to
be great. That burning desire to be great in my mind helped him be the
out-of-state linebacker. He won out. He battled to do the right things.”
On taking his play to the next level
against Air Force Prep …
“It really was. He played with a lot more
confidence after that game. There was a fairly drastic difference after that
game. He really found his niche and found what we needed from him.”
Canady’s 2007 Game-By-Game
Opponent
UT-AT-TT TFL-Yds QB Sacks FR QBH
Tyler Junior College
3-3-6 0-0
0 0
0
Air Force Prep
6-5-11 3-15
1-13 0
1
Highland
7-5-12 5-34
4-25 1
0
Coffeyville
8-7-15 3.5-14 0.5-9
0 0
Garden City
6-3-9
1-1 1-1 0
0
Fort Scott
4-6-10
0-0 0-0 0
0
Dodge City
7-8-15 1.5-2
0.5-1 1
1
Butler
4-11-15 1.5-2
0-0 0
1
Independence
7-6-13 2-2
0-0 1
3
Totals
52-54-106 17.5-70 7-49
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