Linebacker Mike Kinney has been a wrecking ball of an athlete on defense for Loyalsock Township since his freshman season when the Lancers claimed the Eastern Conference AA football championship.
Now, Division-1 football programs are starting to take notice.
Kinney has received interest, but no offers, from five Division-1 programs according to national recruiting service Scout.com. Interested parties in the 6’2, 210-pound linebacker include Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State and Pitt.
2010 proved to be a solid statistical season for Kinney – he saw extensive action on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for the Lancers. He ran for 1,043 yards on 165 carries and caught another 18 passes for 344 yards, scoring 16 total touchdowns (9 rushing, 7 receiving). Defensively, Kinney added 129 tackles (91 solo), three sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery, posting seven games with 10+ tackles and three games with 17+ tackles. He averaged nearly 13 tackles per game as a junior, finishing his second straight season averaging double-digit tackles per contest.
Kinney helped the Lancers reach the PIAA AA quarterfinals in 2009, amassing 147 tackles (104 solo), two sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery, averaging nearly 11 tackles per game. He finished 10 of Loyalsock’s 14 games with 10+ tackles. Offensively, Kinney ran for 774 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught another eight passes for 138 yards.
For his career, Kinney has tallied 375 tackles (274 solo), eight sacks, six interceptions and three fumble recoveries. He’s also run for 1,849 yards and 20 touchdowns and caught another 31 passes for 568 yards and seven scores.
Loyalsock Township finished 4-6 in 2010, snapping a streak of three consecutive seasons of winning either a district or Eastern Conference football championship.
