STEENS — When you have been at a school for as long as KC Cunningham, it’s natural to have left a trail of accomplishments.
But most of the special athletic honors Cunningham has been a part of have involved the Columbus Christian boys basketball teams. It is only recently that Cunningham and the Rams have made their presence known on the football field.
On Friday, Cunningham helped Columbus Christian signal its arrival as more than a basketball school when he played a key role in a 39-0 victory against Deer Creek Academy. The victory allowed Columbus Christian to wrap up the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A, District 2 title, its first district crown in 11-man football.
Cunningham, a 5-foot-8 1/2, 196-pound senior, had seven carries for 122 yards and three touchdowns in the victory that pushed the Rams to 6-4.
For his accomplishments, Cunningham is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“It felt pretty good to win a district championship,” Cunningham said. “I have been here since third grade. To get the first one in my senior year, it feels like I am leaving with a legacy.”
The latest victory avenged a 28-26 loss to Deer Creek Academy in Steens that denied Columbus Christian a chance at its first district title. The team’s season then ended with a loss to top-seeded Natchez Trinity Episcopal in the first round of the Class A playoffs. This season, Columbus Christian secured the No. 5 seed in the playoffs and will play host to DeSoto School at 7 p.m. Friday in its first home playoff game in the school’s 11-man history.
Columbus Christian will celebrate the accomplishments of this season’s team with a pep rally at 6 p.m. Thursday at the school. On Friday, it will welcome back players and cheerleaders from the 1988 and 1992 teams that were National Association of Christian Athletes runners-up. Both squads played for national titles in Dayton, Tennessee. The trophies for both teams are on display in the lobby of the school’s gym.
This year’s team will have to find a piece of prime real estate to showcase its championship hardware. Whether it has been football, basketball, baseball, or track and field, Cunningham has been a part of many of the school’s biggest athletic achievements in recent years. Last school year, he played point guard on the boys basketball team that won a district title. This year, he hopes he and his teammates can continue to make history on the football field.
“I think it will be our first 11-man playoff game here, so it is going to be pretty intense,” said Cunningham, who plans to go to East Mississippi Community College and hopes to play football for the nation’s No. 1 program. “I think we are going to feel kind of pressured to win because we have accomplished so much and they kind of expect us to win since we are a higher seed. That is going to be a little pressure, but I think we’re going to handle it and we will go out there and play our best game and get another win and go to round two.”
Cunningham has done more than his share in the historic season. He leads the team with 1,199 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns (an average of 9.08 yards per carry). He also has 21 catches for 429 yards and four more touchdowns. Figure in 122 yards as a kick returner, 105 yards and a touchdown as a punt returner, and 31 solo tackles and two interceptions on defense and it’s safe to say Cunningham has done a little of everything.
Greg Watkins has coached Cunningham for the past four years. He said his senior leader has matured into a lead-by-example performer who is more comfortable as a vocal leader this season.
“I tell my seniors to be a leader before you can be vocal you have got to lead by example,” Watkins said. “If you don’t lead by example, they’re not going to respect you when you do get on to somebody or you do try to get them to work harder. KC has done a real good job of doing that. He has worked a whole lot harder. When you do get out and work harder and perform in games, the younger guys listen to him. He has grown up a whole lot in the past year in that aspect.”
Watkins said Cunningham also has shouldered the responsibility of being the team’s go-to back. He said many teams list Cunningham at the top of their game plan when they formulate their defenses. But he said players like B.J. Shirley, Kimarri Whitfield, and Dawson Shaw have done a good job of capitalizing on their chances when teams key on Cunningham.
Even when teams concentrate on Cunningham. Watkins said he has been able to have success because he has improved his vision from last season. Watkins said the maturation comes from experience in the system.
“Last year and at the beginning of the year, he didn’t see those open spots,” Watkins said. “He has done a lot better job of getting up there and reading the defense before the play is run to know where to look for those cuts.”
That leadership is similar to the role Cunningham plays on the basketball court as the team’s point guard. Cunningham admits winning the football title has been special. Watkins agrees because Columbus Christian has been known more for its accomplishments in boys basketball. He credits players like Cunningham and classmates Shirley, Chris Randazzo, Grant Wyatt, and Koby Bailey for helping the football team make a name for itself and, in the process, make history.
“We have come a long ways, and we still have a long ways to go to get to where we want to be,” Watkins said. “Last year’s team playing for the district put the taste in these guys mouth to want it even more. Next year’s team, it puts a little more on them where you have started something and y’all keep it going.
“We have five seniors and not any juniors and a big sophomore class. They are a pretty tight group. I think it started last year in basketball, building that team chemistry and that many parts, one body. They didn’t look at each other as seniors or juniors or sophomores. They look at each other as equal. Some stepped up and were leaders. If I had to pick my two biggest leaders, I would say KC and B.J. They didn’t miss any of the summer workouts. They kept everybody fired up and helped keep that desire to be the first district champion alive and it filtered through everybody.”
That’s a legacy any player can be proud of.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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