Schalick’s Simmons makes his longtime dream a reality, signing to play football at Millersville
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CENTERTON – Like most kids who play football in their youth, Kenai Simmons always dreamed of playing on the college level one day. Instinctively, those dreams focused on the biggest programs in the country, the teams he would watch every Saturday on television.
As he got older and he saw how the recruiting game was played the focus of his future landing place started to change. And as he saw how the game is played today, with transfer portals and NLI deals, he even doubted at times whether his dreams would ever materialize at all.
That’s what makes today such a special day for the versatile Schalick senior. His dream of playing college football became a reality at about 7:30 this morning when he signed and sent scholarship papers to continue his athletic and academic career at Millersville University.
The Marauders touted the signing with a “welcome to the family” post on their social media pages and Simmons is expected to have a signing event at Schalick to celebrate the feat later today.
“One thing about college recruiting nowadays, you’ve got to be strong for it,” Simmons said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs as anybody who’s in my age bracket could tell you. The transfer portal has kids, kids like me. You could be a good athlete or a great athlete, if you don’t have the right grades and the right exposure you might not find a college that’s for you.
“I started doubting myself. I started thinking like I wasn’t going to be at any college at all, any university. I was starting to look up how much Rowan’s tuition was, stuff like that. I was starting to think of what I would do after high school.
“For a good period of time my mind was not on college because it just wasn’t really working out for me. I didn’t really tell anybody that, I was just hoping something would come up so I could get even more motivation and really get this thing through. But here comes Millersville with a pretty good deal.”
Simmons visited Millersville last Wednesday and committed Saturday. He also visited Widener and Shippensburg and planned to visit FDU, Kings and D-III Springfield (Mass.), but ended his recruitment after the trip to Millersville. He took an unofficial trip to Villanova.
“College football for me was just a big thing in general,” he said. “It was a dream since I was young. When I was younger it was different, I wanted to go to Oregon or Ohio State, that was my dream when I was young. Once you get older you realize it’s not even just about the college football, it’s about the education, so I had to make sure I was in the right spot, had the right niche for me and they treat me right in the classroom.
“I went on a couple visits before Millersville and was waiting on some things before I made my final decision. When I got there I just felt at home, coaches were welcoming, players were honest with me about things going on within the team and the coaches got it right and this is their year they feel like, so I think Millersville’s the right place for me.”
Outgoing Schalick coach Mike Wilson agreed Simmons was one of the most versatile player he has coached.
“I have coached some really good players at Schalick,” he said, “but Kenai is special because we could play him in different roles.”
While Simmons played multiple positions for the Cougars, Millersville likes him as something it calls the Falcon-back, a hybrid slot/running back who sometimes just might be called upon to throw a pass.
It’s really not much a departure from what he was used to and actually what he was hoping to find on the next level. He played something similar in his pre-high school days and right before accepting the quarterback’s role as a junior for the good of the team.
His versatility is reflected in his stats. He ran for 2,358 yards and 40 touchdowns in his four-year varsity career. He passed for 1,760 yards and 19 touchdowns in his last two, and caught 13 passes for 358 yards and five touchdowns in his last three.
Before the move to quarterback reduced his role on defense, he had 67 tackles and three interceptions.
“I’d definitely say I was happy with what we accomplished,” Simmons said. “I wasn’t satisfied, but I was definitely happy. There’s definitely a difference there. Not to be cocky, I don’t think anybody on our team could have played the position I played and the way I played it.
“I think I really just pushed the idea (of playing quarterback( out of my head that I didn’t like doing it. But I did it for my team. I had guys on that team I really cared about. I did it for the guys. I did it so we could succeed and try to get a ‘ship under our belt.”
And succeed they did. The Cougars went from not winning a game the year before Simmons made the varsity to playing in a Group I sectional title game each of his last two years. Two years ago, in Simmons’ first year as the quarterback, they started 11-0.
His plan is to report to start his new adventure in August.
“I don’t think relief is the word, but I can’t find a better word than relief right now; we’ll go with relief,” he said. “It was definitely a lot of stuff coming off my shoulders. I think I sat down in the tub for the first time in forever. It was that great. I’m happy to have the opportunity and you know I’ll make it count.”
Top photo by Heather Papiano
Riverview Sports News 