EUGENE KINLAW

Turning in one of the most dominant seasons ever by a Hutchinson Community College football player, sophomore defensive tackle Eugene Kinlaw was named the 2008 NJCAA National Defensive Player of the Year.

Kinlaw is the first HCC football player to earn National Player of the Year honors.

“It feels really nice. I wasn’t expecting this,” Kinlaw said. “We had a really great year.”

The national award is the latest for Kinlaw, who also garnered first-team all-Jayhawk Conference and league Defensive Player of the Year awards as well as first-team NJCAA and JC Grid-Wire first-team All-America honors in 2008.

Kinlaw played a huge role in the turnaround of the Blue Dragon football program. After winning only six games from 2005 to 2008, the 2008 Blue Dragons went 7-4, tied for third in the Jayhawk Conference, advanced to the Region VI championship game for the first time since 1995 and achieved a No. 19 final national ranking.

“I knew he was a great player, but to be honored like that is an awesome deal for Eugene, our program and for the college to have a national player of the year. It’s pretty exciting.”

Kinlaw, a 6-foot-2, 295-pound sophomore from Homerville, Ga., quickly asserted himself as a dominant defensive lineman. The Blue Dragon defensive tackle led the Jayhawk Conference in tackles for loss with 45, which totaled 180 yards. He had 11 quarterback sacks, which ranked 10th in the NJCAA. The 45 tackles for loss were a Blue Dragon team record for defensive linemen.

“I wanted to dominant more than I did last year,” Kinlaw said. “I didn’t feel like I dominated my freshman year and I wanted to work hard this year so I could dominate.”

Kinlaw was fourth on the team with 65 total tackles (49 solo, 16 assisted). He also registered four passes broken up, 15 quarterback hurries, four forced fumbles, two blocked kicks and one safety.

Kinlaw led a Blue Dragon defense that allowed just 74.8 rushing yards a game, ranking sixth in the nation.

He had a season-high nine tackles in the regular-season game against Fort Scott. He had eight tackles, five for loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks in a victory over Air Force Prep. One week later, Kinlaw had eight tackles, six for loss and 1.5 sacks against Independence.

“He has a lot of God-given ability, but he just matured,” Rhoades said. “He decided he was going to buckle down and not take a play off. He had a new level of maturity. It got hungry to be great and he knew he needed to lead our football team. That was probably the biggest difference.

Kinlaw, who has already committed to Troy University for next season, is the sixth Jayhawk Conference player to win a National Player of the Year award since it was first given in 1990.

EUGENE KINLAW'S 2008 GAME-BY-GAME STATISTICS