It’s open for debate.
The word around Benet has been that Nick Keyes is the football team’s fastest player. His receivers coach, in fact, already has encouraged him to try track this spring.
Keyes, a 5-foot-8 junior, demurs on the label of fastest man — although speed remains, no doubt, the name of his game.
“If you ask anybody else, I might be, but if you ask me, I still feel Marty Dosen’s the fastest guy,” said Keyes, who runs a 4.65-second 40. “As you can see, I’m not the tallest guy. I can’t depend on my height, so I have to depend on my speed.”
The impact of Keyes and his speed this season isn’t debatable.
Keyes has 35 receptions and leads Benet in yards receiving with 447 and touchdowns with four. He’s a big reason the Redwings (9-2) are back in the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
Benet plays at Rolling Meadows (11-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“He’s been that constant for us in the slot,” Benet coach Pat New said. “In summer practices, we noticed his ability to outrun guys and make defenders miss. Right from the get-go, he’s been our big-play guy.”
That means big chunks of yardage, but it also translates to big moments.
Keyes had one in Benet’s second-round playoff win at Normal Community on Saturday, hauling in a fourth-and-12 pass from Jack Sznajder in traffic.
“I was running a seam route, and Jack threw a perfect pass to me,” said Keyes, who had seven catches for 52 yards in Benet’s 38-14 win. “He trusted that I would come down with it, and that’s what happened.”
That trust has been nurtured over time.
Sznajder and Keyes first connected at Sts. Peter and Paul in Naperville, when Keyes was in the fifth grade. Sznajder, a year older than Keyes, was his quarterback again two years later.
“He’s always been a stud,” Sznajder said of Keyes. “He’s got great speed, he’s great in open space and he runs crisp routes. He’s the full package.”
That package took a few weeks to be unveiled this fall.
Keyes played mostly cornerback in Benet’s first two games as Erik Jones recovered from a broken hand. Keyes’ first big splash offensively came in Week 4, on an 80-yard TD reception in a 33-14 win over St. Viator.
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“That was a big moment,” said Keyes, a Naperville resident. “I didn’t perform to my full potential the first few games. My first varsity touchdown, it was a feeling that I’m finally here and that I belong.”
Benet’s offense struggled somewhat out of the gate but has come on. Its spread-the-wealth passing game is a big reason.
C.J. Birck has 36 receptions, Jack Eschenbach counts 27, Dosen pulled in 20 and Michael Challenger has 19. The Redwings have scored at least 26 points in seven of their last eight games.
“You need to have that balance.” New said. “We’ve made an effort to go fast and increase tempo. Going into the season, that was our goal, but we lost our focus a little bit. I think we got it back.”
Continuing it against Rolling Meadows will be a chore. The Mustangs allow just 8.1 points per game and have yet to give up more than 14. They’ve outscored opponents by a staggering 394-89.
“Their middle linebacker (Kevin Haltman) is an insane athlete. Everybody else is an insane athlete,” Keyes said. “We’re going to have to break them down piece by piece to score on them.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.