Central’s Keyone Jenkins, already at FIU, wins Warren Henry Award as best in South Florida
Keyone Jenkins has been playing quarterback since he was 5, in his second year playing football, and the three-time state champion still thinks about the lessons his father taught him when he first started playing the position.
“I had to be a leader. I’ve always got to stand out,” said Jenkins, who graduated from Miami Central earlier this winter and officially started his career with the FIU Panthers last month. “Being that I am the quarterback, a lot comes with it. You’ve got to be able to take responsibility in the big wins and you’ve got to take responsibility in the big losses. Win, lose or draw, it’s on you.”
It’s the ethos he brought to Central for three years as the starting quarterback, winning three straight state titles, and it’s a major part of why he won the Warren Henry Player of the Year Award on Wednesday as the top player in South Florida.
Jenkins was a starting quarterback in high school for five years — he played at Mater Academy Charter in eighth grade at Carol City as a freshman -- and improved every season, leading to his breakout campaign as a senior for the Rockets. In leading Central to a fourth straight state championship, Jenkins went 140 of 227 for 2,282 yards, 27 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a passer, and added 56 carries for 351 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground
The Rockets went undefeated for the first time in program history and also won the school’s first national championship, according to NationalHSFB.com.
Jenkins was also the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Offensive Player of the Year for Classes 2M-1M, earning his third straight first-team All-County honor from the Herald.
This award let him stake his claim as the best in the entire region, though.
“It means a lot,” Jenkins said. “They acknowledged the fact that I have great leadership, great skills and I’m a great student-athlete.”
He and FIU coach Mike MacIntyre both said Jenkins will have a shot to compete for a starting job as a freshman in Miami.
“It was kind of big to me, being that the coach could trust me to come in and make an impact as a freshman,” Jenkins said. “That just shows the trust and confidence he has in me.”
With Jenkins grabbing the Warren Henry Award, Central swept the two major South Florida-wide awards.
Defensive lineman Rueben Bain, who officially started his career with the Miami Hurricanes in January after winning four state titles in four years for the Rockets, won the Nat Moore Trophy late last year.
“A lot of talent comes through Miami Central, but I’d say it’s the program and the system itself. If you buy into it, you’ll get a lot,” Jenkins said. “Me and Rueben, we’re living proof of that.”
Bain and Jenkins were two of 21 total seniors honored at the ninth annual South Florida Athletic Awards at Warren Henry INFINITI in North Miami. The others: Northwestern’s Taron Dickens, Western’s Collin Hurst, Dillard’s Christopher Johnson, Doral Academy’s Mark Wilder Jr., Stoneman Douglas’ Clayton Cannon Jr., Plantation American Heritage’s Mark Fletcher and Brandon Inniss, Edison’s Nathaniel Joseph, Fort Lauderdale’s Jalyn Jackson, Central’s Stanquan Clark, Palmetto’s Gabe Hardman, Cardinal Gibbons’ Greg Otten, South Miami’s Artravian Driver, Westland Hialeah’s Antron Williams, St. Thomas Aquinas’ King Mack and Conrad Hussey, Blanche Ely’s Harlem Howard, Homestead’s David Jester and Chaminade-Madonna’s Edwin Joseph.
Otten won Warren Henry’s academic award and Driver won the Sticktuity Award for perseverance.
Three coaches also took home honors: Columbus’ Dave Dunn was the Miami-Dade County Coach of the Year, Chaminade-Madonna’s Dameon Jones was the Broward County Coach of the Year and Central’s Jube Joseph was the overall Coach of the Year.
