Savannah Standard

From January 5, 2023 post.

Wesley Kennedy III played a role in the rise of the Benedictine football program — he was a sophomore standout on the first Cadet team to win a state championship in his sophomore season of 2014, and went on to earn Savannah Morning News Player of the Year honors in his senior year — another championship campaign that ended with a 15-0 record.

The running back/receiver went on to become a star at Georgia Southern — earning All-Sun Belt Conference honorable mention honors in 2018 and 2019. He still had a year of eligibility left when his time at Georgia Southern came to an end after a mistake in his personal life led to Kennedy leaving the team.

He was suspended from the Eagle squad in November of 2020 after an arrest in Statesboro on drug related charges. In October of 2021, Kennedy went missing for two nights in Garden City as he struggled through personal issues before being found safe.

All-Savannah football team announcedHere's the 2022 All-Greater Savannah high school football team and Coach of the Year

Former BC star found safeWesley Kennedy III, missing since Sunday, found Tuesday night by Garden City Police

Through it all, Kennedy's family, friends and the BC community formed a foundation of support that helped him recover from his mistakes. On Monday, his entire support system was on hand in the Benedictine gym to see Kennedy take the next step in his life as he announced he will finish out his college career playing for the University of West Georgia next fall, where he plans to earn his bachelor's degree.

Kennedy thanked his mother, Yulonda Maxwell, for standing by him through it all, along with his father. And he said the support from BC, where he has been active with the football program, while working to get back into football shape, has also been pivotal.

"Benedictine has been really important through all of this," said Kennedy, who is serving probation after pleading guilty to the charges. "They were there to help me mentally and physically. I was out at practices and got the chance to work out with the guys. And to know that the players still looked up to me -- that gave me a lot of motivation. I want to show the young kids in Savannah that you can work through things when you make a mistake.

"I'm very excited and grateful to have the chance to play again. I feel like I have a lot to prove -- to myself and to people who gave up on me. I've been working hard and can't wait to put the pads back on."

Many of his former BC teammates were on hand Monday, along with family members, BC coaches and players from this year's Cadet squad, which won the fourth state title since Kennedy helped start it all in 2014.

In 2016, Kennedy ran back an interception on the last high school touch of his career in the state title win over Fitzgerald. He earned Savannah Morning News Player of the Year honors with 1,236 yards rushing and 18 rushing touchdowns. He caught 42 passes for 895 yards and 15 more scores. He added 693 yards in kick returns — finishing the season with 2,867 all-purpose yards and 37 touchdowns for the Cadets.

BC's Kennedy earns Player of Year honors2016 Football Player of the Year: Wesley Kennedy, Benedictine

He had 89 touchdowns and rushed for 3,605 yards with a school record 7,552 all-purpose yards in his high school career. He had his best year at Georgia Southern as a junior — rushing for 824 yards and 11 scores.

"We're all very proud of what Wesley has done to get to this point," Benedictine coach Danny Britt said Monday. "He's stayed the course and persevered to come out on top, and now he's going to get a chance to earn his college degree and play another year of college ball.

"When Wesley was going through all of this, we realized that he is our brother, as a person, first and foremost," Britt said. "He had a great career here at BC, and we were going to continue to love him through the tough time. Now he's showing that everyone makes mistakes -- but you can overcome them."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

Original source can be found here.