GameDay: In wake of Kennard injury, DV preps for Mesquite

Who better than the person whose season-ending injury instilled doubt in the team to put those fears to rest?

It may have been cliché, but senior defensive end Devon Kennard -- the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation according to Rivals.com who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in last Friday's win over Chandler and is now lost for the year -- stood in front of his teammates earlier this week and borrowed a line from coaches across the nation.

• Click here for Friday's AFN GameDay Blitz (PDF)
• Desert Vista football index

"Devon was the one who said it," recalled DV coach Dan Hinds. "Devon said, ‘Hey, a football team's not made up of one guy.' And that's the No. 2 guy in the nation saying that. It is a 22-man game. Are we going to miss him? Absolutely. But this gives some other guys an opportunity to really step up and shine."

Those immediately asked to step up will be Mike Flaster and Spencer Fosnot, seniors who will split duties in filling Kennard's spot at defensive end tonight at 7 p.m. when the Thunder football team (2-1) travels to Gilbert to take on Mesquite (1-2).

Flaster has 13 tackles on the season. Fosnot has four.

"Here's the deal: With Devon Kennard, you have the No. 1 defensive end in the nation playing that spot," Hinds said. "Now, we've got some good players playing there, just kind of like everyone else. It's an understatement saying that it was a luxury having a guy like Devon, because you can always count on him making tremendous plays all throughout the game. Some of these other guys are going to have to step up."

Senior Danny Mullarkey will also see a little added weight on his shoulders -- and a little extra attention from opposing offensive lines. Mullarkey, a defensive end, has nine tackles, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles so far this season.

"Danny Mullarkey is a guy that people are going to have to scheme to stop," Hinds said.

After telling his team about the extent of Kennard's injury, Hinds said he has seen an increase in intensity during practice this week.

"The biggest thing we can do is to not let it slow us down, because we need to just take it and keep striding," said safety Jake van Raaphorst. "We've still got a whole team. It's only one loss out of 22 guys. That's a big loss, but we've still got the majority of the team left."

Still, tonight, Hinds said, will be the real gauge to see how his team's dealing with the loss.

"We could've gone either way, and to be honest with you, as a head coach, it's my job and my concern that it could've gone south on us. It hasn't," Hinds said. "Now the true test is going to be Friday night. We'll see how our kids come out."