Putting it on his shoulders Pendelton stars as Jays get past Battle

COLUMBIA — The lights were out at Battle High School.

The Jays had knocked off the Spartans, and with the team gathered together at midfield, the lights were turned off.

Still, one star shone brightly. Beneath dozens of cell phone flashlights, the Jays serenaded fullback Kevion Pendelton, who celebrates his 18th birthday this weekend. On Friday, no one celebrated more than Pendelton, who had 42 carries for 327 yards and seven scores. His biggest came right at the end of the game from two yards out with 20 seconds left to give the team a 55-52 win. That rushing total is the second-highest in Jays’ history behind Brad Allen’s 401-yard outing in 2008.

“I was just saying, ‘I’m gonna score.’” Pendelton said on his game-winning score. “I mean I can’t let down my team. … If you’re at the 2-yard line you punch it in no matter what.”

It’s especially impressive since Pendelton wasn’t expected to be the center of the offense at the beginning of the season. He was a starting safety and a starter on special teams but spent the opener behind Will Berendzen on the depth chart at fullback.

Berendzen went down against Rock Bridge in Week 3, and since then, Pendelton has delivered.

After Friday’s game, he has a team-high 1,087 yards and 17 scores. His 42 carries Friday weren’t far from his season total of 63 carries.

Pendelton was at the head of a bruising offensive attack that ground the Spartans defense into submission to bounce back after scoring only seven points against Helias the previous week.

Pendelton has kept up his defensive impact despite the increased workload on offense, with his fifth interception of the season in the first quarter.

The offensive line put together a strong showing, pushing the defense behind the line of scrimmage and giving Pendelton and David Bethune, who also went past 1,000 rushing yards for the season Friday, some space to work with.

“Our offensive line just believes in us,” Pendelton said. “I mean when you get a block, with that block we’re going.

“Running behind Brody Smith, a fast pulling guard, a 6-5 sophomore. We can run behind. Jackson (Figo), got him coming out, it’s amazing, they’re just fast.”

Pendelton was the star, but he wasn’t the only key piece of the offense. The whole offensive line played well, while Bethune set up the game-winning score and had chunk runs while Zane Wings caught a key 30-yard pass, the only completion of the day on a well-thrown ball by Hayden Wells, to give the Jays a chance on their final drive with the clock ticking down.

“We couldn’t do what we do without any of our kids,” Jays coach Damon Wells said. “That may be cliche, but I don’t care because it’s true. And I believe that. We love our boys.”

The win was a big one for Bethune, Pendelton, Berendzen, and the entire senior class. They’ve gone through losing seasons since seventh grade when they started 0-5 and vowed to stick together through their high school careers.

“We’ve been through struggles together,” Pendelton said.

Those high school days were also filled with some bumps and bruises. The team has gone 5-15 the last two seasons with different coaches each year after a freshman year where the Jays went 4-6. As seniors, they’ve matched their freshman year win total and now have a chance to give Jefferson City its first season above .500 since 2016.

“It’s just amazing you see the people you grew up with and it’s just levels,” Pendelton said. “It just keeps succeeding over levels.”

The win also keeps the team’s lead for a No. 2 seed in their district, giving them a great chance to make a district title game and get their first postseason win since 2016.

Sitting at the center of those recent-era firsts, and a possible sign of promise for a program that has lacked that the past couple of seasons, is Pendelton, who held No. 18 balloons for his birthday Friday with his teammates, and that senior class.

Bethune was the catalyst for the offense for the first couple of weeks and will need to be at his best in the postseason, while Berendzen could make a return as a long-snapper next week to provide a big boost to the Jays.

The first step in that process is the team’s road game this Friday against Fort Zumwalt West. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.