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Entering this season, Elijah Kennedy was uncertain about his role on A&T's football team after missing all of 2024 with a knee injury and knowing he’d need to prove his value to a new coaching staff if he hoped to climb the depth chart.
Undaunted, he just focused on improving each day as a wide receiver and return specialist, determined to do anything he could to help the team win.
Last Saturday, Kennedy got that chance against Campbell and made the most of it – almost single-handedly rallying A&T back from a fourth quarter deficit by becoming the first player in school history to return both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the same game.
With the Aggies trailing 21-14 with 6:31 left in the final period, Kennedy fielded a punt inside his own 10-yard line, darted right for a few steps and then quickly reversed field down the left sideline for a 96-yard score.
Conventional wisdom says a returner should never catch a punt that close to their own end zone but Kennedy was more concerned about his destination, not where the play originated.
“I really didn’t know that I had backed up that far,” Kennedy admitted. “But I just wanted it more than they did so I just went ahead and got it.”
Less than five minutes later, after Cambell reclaimed the lead with a 38-yard field goal, Kennedy struck again - this time returning the ensuing kickoff 85 yards down the same sideline to put A&T ahead for good, 28-24.
“Elijah Kennedy had a special day. I’m so thankful he is on our team,” said A&T head coach Shawn Gibbs about his redshirt junior who also caught four passes for 27 yards against Campbell. “He’s a heck of a competitor and a great story for not only the guys on our team but kids throughout the country as somebody they can look at and learn about perseverance and work ethic.”
Kennedy’s heroics earned him both national and conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors and also helped A&T improve to 2-6 overall and 2-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association. It was the first time in three years that the Aggies have won more than one game in a football season.
Since joining the program as a walk-on from High Point Central, the 5’9, 180-pound speedster has worked tirelessly to prove that he can be a consistent weapon.
This season he has been his breakout campaign, currently ranking fourth on the Aggies with 16 catches for 168 receiving yards in eight games while also returning two punts and a kickoff for touchdowns.
Kennedy currently ranks second in the nation in combined kick return yards (589) and fifth in the country in yards per punt return (17.6).
He is the only player in FCS football this season who has returned a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown.
Now the goal for A&T will be to keep the momentum rolling this upcoming Saturday when they return back to Truist Stadium at 12 noon to host conference foe Towson.
The Tigers (3-5 overall, 1-3 in the CAA) are coming off three straight losses including a 27-19 defeat to Stony Brook last Saturday.
Their offense is led by true freshman quarterback Andrew Indorf, who has thrown for 1,502 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions this season on 123-for-206 passing.
Indorf’s favorite target is redshirt junior wideout Jaceon Doss who leads the conference and is second in the nation in yards per reception, averaging 25.4 yards per catch. Doss had seven catches for 139 yards in Towson’s loss to nationally ranked Monmouth.
Defensively, the Tigers rank ninth in the CAA - surrendering nearly 394.9 yards and 26.8 points per game.
Towson is one of the least penalized teams in FCS football, averaging only 44.5 penalty yards per contest.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Gibbs said. “We’ve got to play cleaner. This week is just about trying to get better and continuing to improve. "
"Last week’s done and now it’s time to move on to a good Towson team.”
