Grayslake Central junior Ken-Ye Pendleton Jr.’s past three games belie his lack of football experience.
Pendleton Jr. decided to give the sport a try for the first time in summer 2024. A little more than a year later, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound running back has emerged as the Rams’ go-to option in the backfield.
“I don’t actually watch that much football, so a lot of the guys have a connection to the sport that I’m still trying to build,” Pendleton Jr. said. “Even sitting here right now, I’m trying to grasp the significance of what I’m achieving.
“I’m glad I’ll have the chance to maintain my new expectations.”
Those expectations have grown by leaps and bounds as Pendleton Jr. has carved out a more pronounced role in the game plan. After receiving a few carries in the first third of the season, he has rushed for at least 100 yards in three straight games for the Rams (3-3, 2-2) and is averaging 8.0 yards per carry heading into a Northern Lake County Conference game at co-leader Wauconda on Friday.
Pendleton Jr. racked up 156 yards on just 10 carries during Grayslake Central’s 21-20 conference loss to Lakes on Sept. 19. He was the workhorse the following week, carrying the ball a career-high 24 times for 142 yards during the Rams’ 31-19 conference win over North Chicago.
“He’s become a completely different runner between Game 1 and now, and he’ll continue to get better and better,” Grayslake Central coach Brent Pearlman said. “He takes coaching very well, he asks good questions and he’s as humble as they come. His best football is still ahead of him.”
Pendleton Jr. has also overcome the hurdle that stopped him from playing football for years.
“What kept me from it, honestly, was a fear of getting hurt,” he said. “That was always the first reason. It’s an intense sport, and I always looked at it and thought, ‘Those guys are crazy.’
“In that first summer, I got hit a few times, and I noticed it wasn’t that bad, and in my first JV game, I took a bunch of hits and knew I could do it. It’s nothing at this point.”
With that obstacle out of the way, Pendleton Jr. is trying to pick up as much information as he can.
“Last week, I learned a lot about how to get into space and how to see things around and ahead of me,” he said. “Up until now, I was just running, and I would see space and I knew that I had to get there. Now I know how smart it is to aim for where my teammates’ backs are.
“Having these new tools makes me think I can take this even farther.”
The running part isn’t new for Pendleton Jr., who advanced to the Class 3A state meet in the 100-meter dash and the 200 in the spring. He also ran legs on the Rams’ 400 and 800 relay teams that finished fifth and fourth, respectively.
“Both sports come down to learning how to use my athletic ability,” Pendleton Jr. said. “In track, I’m going straight forward, and there isn’t anything in my way. In football, I’m still learning how to control my speed and how to change directions. You have to shuffle and cut, and you’re always switching gears. I’m still figuring out how to do that.”
But there’s at least one thing that Pendleton Jr. can take from the track to the football field.
“The prerace stress I manage in track, I feel, will help me handle the pressure of football,” he said. “I can definitely improve my mind in football.”
Despite Pendleton Jr.’s inexperience, football isn’t new to his family. His uncle DJ Miller is a freshman receiver at Kentucky, and his father, Ken-Ye Pendleton Sr., played running back at Carmel.
Pendleton Sr. is a member of Carmel’s Athletic Hall of Fame, stemming from his success in track and field, and he owns and operates Grayslake-based NFRONT Athletics, a youth sports performance training company, with his wife, Kelly. He said his son is figuring out football.
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“He’s sort of cerebral in his approach, but every game he’s adding to his inventory of skills,” Pendleton Sr. said. “It’s an experiment until it starts to work, but everything in both sports is an extension of the training program he’s involved in. He’s used to being in performance mode, and once he gets the football stuff under his belt, he’ll be rocking.”
There’s no question that Pendleton Jr. is enjoying it, much more than he ever envisioned.
“Part of me wishes I had gotten into it earlier,” he said. “Football is now taking up a big part of my life, and it’s really important to me. The culture is something I really enjoy about the sport, and to be part of something that the school and community rally behind means a lot.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.