Kenny Whittaker is a fighter. He's the kind of football player you want on your side in a fierce battle. He is the type of player who will never give up. While he brings all these accolades to the field, getting colleges to offer this gifted athlete has been tough.

Whittaker isn't alone. In this region, which will turn out some 200 Division 1A signees next February, getting a scholarship to get an education and to play football is getting tougher, and athletes such as Whittaker are having to do more self promotion than ever before.

While most in Miami-Dade County had little idea that Whittaker existed until the spring when the receiver/all-around football player arrived at Columbus, Broward County and 2A schools across the state knew all about this 5-10, 175-pounder, who caught more than 900 yards for Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood. He was chosen first-team All-State.

Even when coach Mark Guandolo left for Cypress Bay, Whittaker stayed at a school that had been fair to him. Then, after Al Lang departed for Douglas after one season in, stability had gone out the window for someone who needed to stand out.

''I have been taught one way to do things,'' Whittaker said. ``If you work hard and apply what you learn in practices, you will succeed.''

That philosophy has worked for Whittaker, who had been noticed plenty during his junior season, where his team lost in the first round of the playoffs.

IMPRESSING RECRUITERS

Perhaps the game that stood out most in many recruiters and college coaches' mind was the game in which Whittaker and Chaminade lost 41-0 to eventual 2B state champions, Pahokee. It was in that game when everyone began to see this tremendous athlete for what he was.

''Kenny is the kind of player who has been proving himself all of his young life,'' said Roy Jossfolk of EliteScoutingServices.com. ``I have had the pleasure of watching him for two years, and there's no way people are going to say that he isn't a D1 player. He catches too many balls and does so many things on the field.''

At a time when colleges have to examine a recruit from top to bottom, Whittaker is often passed over for a number of reasons. One of the main things, at the major college level, is they want a larger, more durable-looking kind of athlete. Whittaker obviously doesn't fit the 6-3, 200-pounds that colleges thirst for. But neither did Miami Dolphin Wes Welker.

The opportunity to play at Columbus for his senior year has also increased interest as Boston College and Wake Forest have inquired. If Whittaker is to come away with that coveted scholarship at the end of the upcoming football season, he will have a lot of proving to do.

Consider that 2A football in the state of Florida, while it is impressive, is not Class 6A. At Columbus, Whittaker will be tested every week, and that could turn out to be the real difference maker.

''My time so far at Columbus has been tremendous,'' Whittaker said. ``You have one of the best defensive linemen [Antwan Lowery] in the nation on the team with the best junior running back anywhere, Jakhari Gore. You have to be kidding, this is going to be great.''

When many people tend to look down at the smaller schools, they forget that Pahokee, Archbishop Carroll, American Heritage and Gulliver Prep are all small schools, but understandably, many are waiting for Whittaker to get it done against the ``big boys.''

''From what we've seen in the spring and into the summer, Kenny is going to lift this team up in a way that most never predicted,'' Gore said. ``He just has a way of making things happen. He is going to surprise a lot of people who have never watched him before.''

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