By Mandy Housenick
GoLeopards.com Featured Columnist

For two years, no one really knew just how talented Kente Edwards was because the Lafayette College football team had an All-American running back named Jamar Curtis, who averaged nearly 95 rushing yards per game in his final season.

Would Edwards really plow his way through tackles? No way to know.

Would he really be the fastest guy on the team - if not the field? Maybe, but he hadn't gotten a chance to show it.

Would he really be so humble that it would be impossible to tell just how much of a star he was? No one could say for sure.

Now, five games into the 2025 season, he is the guy everyone is talking about.

"It's really fun to watch when you have kids who have worked their butts off," Lafayette offensive coordinator TJ DiMuzio said. "For Kente, it's been two years and he hasn't necessarily seen the results before this year. Now we are seeing somebody who works so hard and you know it's going to work out at some point because he has kept his faith."

So did his coaches.

After Curtis took his talents to the West Coast for his final year of eligibility, Edwards has shown he was more than ready.

"Every time I know he has a chance to get the ball, it's like, 'What's going to happen?' Leopards head coach John Troxell said with excitement. "Just so far this season, he has had more explosive plays than we have had in the last four years. Even the little ones, people are bouncing off of him. The funny thing is, my sister, who comes to most of our games, she asks, 'What year is he? A junior? Why didn't you play him last year?' I say, 'This is his time.' He has worked really hard to get to this point. He made an impact on special teams as a freshman, but now he is in the limelight."

Edwards, who stands at 5-foot-9, 197 pounds, had three consecutive games in which he rushed for 100 yards which led to him being named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for each performance. At Georgetown, he racked up a career-best 255-yard, four-touchdown game.

For the season, he has scored 10 touchdowns and is averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

The North Hunterdon High School (New Jersey) graduate pounds defenses with his strength but also attacks with his blistering speed.

"What makes him such a threat is definitely the fact that he's so big and strong," quarterback Dean DeNobile said. "Most running backs either have strength or speed, but he has both. He's super fast. When guys want to race, he's the last one you want to race. And he's extremely strong in the weight room. I think that's what makes him great.

"I wish I could just sit back and watch him run, and sometimes I do."

Although Troxell and Co. had their eyes on Kente for awhile, they weren't sold on him right away when he was in high school.

"It's interesting because we had him at camp, I think at Villanova, we were watching him go through drills," Troxell recalled. "While he was fast, we thought he was stiff; and decided not to take him. Then I went to see him play live since he was local and he was playing at Phillipsburg. They couldn't tackle him, and I said, 'This is the guy we want.' We are lucky we got a chance to see him live."

Being fast wasn't enough when he transitioned to the college game, DiMuzio said. Running backs coach Anthony Johnson focused on teaching Edwards how to position himself properly when running instead of just trying to run.

"From his freshman year to his junior year, he has learned to lower his pads," DiMuzio said. "He was strong and powerful, but I wouldn't say he was a great runner of the football, but I think Coach Johnson has taught him how to become a great runner of the football."

That work ethic, Edwards said, comes from his father, who grew up in Grenada, as did his mother.

"I don't ever believe in settling," Edwards said. "That mindset comes from my dad. He is the strongest person I know - no matter what. He had a rough childhood growing up. He was raised by his aunt. He was always so relaxed, calm, collected and he instilled great morals in me."

Edwards was uncomfortable talking about his success. He was better at passing around the credit to his offensive line for the blocks those guys give him; to quarterbacks DeNobile and Jason Penza for getting him the ball; to fellow running back Ethan Weber for taking pressure off him when he needs a breather and to even his friends' families growing up who helped shape him into the person he is today who is able to handle the pressure, the work-school balance and the social aspects of college life.

"Every time I get the ball, the offensive line has a major push up front, and I could capitalize on that," he said. "They gave me the opportunity to make those plays. And there was great play calling. We get in a good rhythm. Once you get in that good rhythm. It's us just working together, and then it's a lot for the defense to handle and we can capitalize.

"It's been fun winning, but I never really get too high or too low. I put in a lot of hard work to be ready for this opportunity. I'm a simple person. I just play football with my friends. I give it everything I've got. Nothing beats that. It's just a fun sport."

Troxell wasn't one bit surprised to hear Edwards shook off the credit and preferred to talk about others instead of himself.

"He's everything you dream of having on your team," Troxell said. "That's a position where you can have an ego and get to become a prima dona, and he is definitely not one of them.

"He always has a smile on his face. There isn't a guy on the team who doesn't love him and a lot of it is because he's so humble."

That humility, along with his strong familial bonds will help guide him through the loss of his role model, his father, who passed away last weekend after a battle with brain cancer.

But, knowing the support the Leopards always give each other, there's no doubt they will be there now when Edwards needs them the most.