Friday, August 25, 2000
West Hi tailback is 'the real deal'
QCC spotlight
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After 25 years of coaching in college and 10 years at the helm at Western Hills High School, Ed Youngs has the credentials to judge talent.
Maybe that's why Youngs broke into a big smile when asked about Kevin Furlow, the Mustangs tailback who rushed for 1,022 yards on 150 carries in 1999 and scored 12 TDs.
“Kevin's the real deal,” Youngs said. “He's a very special type of runner, and there's a lot of colleges already showing an interest in him.”
Youngs is confident that Furlow, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior speedster, will surpass 1999's statistics.
“We only had four seniors last year and played mostly juniors on the line,” Youngs said. “There's 24 seniors on the team today and we have 18 starters back.”
The experience factor, especially with the entire starting offensive line returning, is what Youngs is counting on in predicting Furlow's improvement.
“We also have another running back, DeAndre Lewis, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards two years ago as a sophomore,” Youngs said. “Our quarterback (Dante Little) is new but throws the ball well.”
For the first time in Youngs' high school coaching career, the Mustangs participated in summer passing leagues. Little and several receivers played well.
“We threw the ball 89 times last year, and everyone's trying to pull me across the line,” Youngs said. “I've never been against throwing the ball, but we've never had the quarterback to do it.”
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