Winchester’s Kiante Enis could be a contender for the Indianapolis Star’s Mr. Football award.
When the Indianapolis Star named Columbus East graduate Markell Jones the 2014 Indiana Mr. Football, Jones alluded to a certain athlete from Randolph County.
“I’m afraid Kiante Enis is going to break it next year,” Jones was quoted as saying, referring to his single-season rushing record of 3,536 yards. “I’ll be watching him closely. Hopefully he has another great season. But I can tell the grandkids someday that I had the record.”
As a junior at Winchester, Enis rushed for 3,189 yards, good for fourth all-time in the history of Indiana.
It’s almost unfair to expect an encore, but it may not be so far-fetched, says Winchester football coach Mike Jones.
Enis has been hard at work in the summer, and Jones said he is now a 200-pounds-of-lean-muscle machine that runs a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
“When Kiante has the talent he has and is at a position on the field, call it high-profile, call it whatever you want to call it, I think he’s very, very talented and fortunate to be on a team that allows him to have success,” Mike Jones said.
Mike Jones points to five names in the conversation early in the preseason:
• Chris Evans, a Ben Davis tailback that led the Giants to the Class 6A state title.
• Avon quarterback Brandon Peters, the first Michigan commit for Jim Harbaugh and future teammate of Enis.
• Michigan State-bound wide receiver Austin Robertson, the No. 1-ranked recruit in Indiana from Fort Wayne Wayne.
• Austin Mack of Fort Wayne Luers, a wideout committed to Ohio State.
• “And then you’ve got Kiante Enis from Winchester Community High School,” Mike Jones said. “He scored 51 touchdowns — there are times you could take two years in a row for a team to score 51 touchdowns. He is every bit in the conversation.”
Enis was initially being recruited highly for basketball, and he didn’t even play football until his sophomore year.
He had a Division I basketball offer from IPFW, but quickly caught attention on the gridiron.
As a sophomore, he helped Winchester share the Tri-Eastern Conference championship with Northeastern, earning Class 2A All-State honorable mention after rushing for 1,409 yards and adding six interceptions on defense.
He more than doubled that total as a junior, leading the nation in rushing at one point in the season, and shattering Winchester records in various categories.
He committed to Michigan after attending a satellite program led by Harbaugh at Bishop Chatard earlier this summer.
“He’s going to be an All-American in several of the preseason high school football magazines,” Mike Jones said. “… I don’t think, if you’ve been around this area for 40 years, I don’t know of another player of that caliber. I was at Muncie Central when Ryan Kerrigan played for us, now an all-pro at Washington, but he was a tight end and a defensive end, so people don’t pay as much attention.”
Jones understands, coming from Winchester and a Class 2A school, Enis will have to do something special to win the award.
Being in the conversation is an honor in itself.
“I think that you listen to people talk, we have to make some kind of a run in my opinion in the 2A North tournament,” Jones said. “I don’t know that we have to be the 2A state champion, but we can’t be beat Week 1 in the sectional and expect him to get the honor.
“There is going to have to be a point where people look at him and say, ‘Oh my gosh, he just took over a game against a really good opponent.”
Enis was the 2014 Palladium-Item All-Area Offensive Player of the Year. Success is in his blood.
His cousin, Nate Trawick, will play for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio starting this fall, and was the Defensive All-Area Player of the Year last fall.
Another cousin is Curtis Enis, Ohio’s Mr. Football in 1993 for Mississinawa Valley in Union City, who played at Penn State before becoming a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears.
He also came out for track this past spring, qualifying for the state finals in the 100-meter dash, where he ran a 10.5.
“I just think so much of it is out of his control,” Jones said. “… The good news for Kiante is he’s on a really good football team, that will certainly help him.”