CARLSBAD – La Costa Canyon High receiver Kenny Stills enters the playoffs with 52 catches for 1,039 yards and 14 touchdowns.
In a football season of big plays, which is Stills' favorite?
“The last week, against Torrey Pines, the game was out of reach when (Sebastian Frausto) threw a ball behind me,” Stills said. “I made a double move post corner and I had to make an adjustment when the ball was in the air for a 40-yard catch.”
La Costa Canyon coach Darrin Brown had a similar response when asked to identify Stills' most impressive catch.
“In the game against Mission Hills, on the last drive to score, he ran this unbelievable corner route,” Brown said. “We were on the 45-yard line and it was a throw over his shoulder that got us to the 1-yard line to set up the game-winning score.”
Attention to detail has been a huge part of Stills' success. It's something he credits his father, Ken Stills, for teaching him.
“He didn't want to influence me to do something just because he did it, so not really until this year has he involved himself in me playing football,” Stills said of his father, who played six seasons in the NFL as a defensive back for Green Bay and Minnesota. “In more than just football, he's shown me to focus on the little things and big things will come to you.”
Big things have started to come to Stills, including a scholarship offer from Boise State University. Other schools are lining up.
“I didn't really come into this season trying to set any personal goals,” said Stills, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior. “I have just been trying to play my role on the team and as the season went on I have just been trying to meet our needs.”
The little things Stills has worked on include watching tape of NFL receivers he admires such as Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and Marvin Harrison. Stills has adopted a practice with Frausto that Harrison and his quarterback, Peyton Manning, have made famous with Indianapolis.
“When practice is over, they can't get enough throwing and catching balls so they stay after and run routes,” Brown said. “They also spent a lot of time in the off-season practicing and it has paid off because they make each other look better.”
Frausto and Stills most likely will be connecting this winter on the basketball court, where Frausto is a point guard and Stills a wing man.
“Our connection really started my freshman year,” Stills said. “All of our touchdowns were fades that year and we just always seemed to have a connection.”
Top-seeded La Costa Canyon (8-2) will host Vista (7-4) at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the San Diego Section Division I quarterfinals. It's a chance for Stills to renew acquaintances.
“I lived in between Oceanside and Vista, so I know those kids pretty well. I went to middle school with them before I moved over here,” Stills said. “I expect it to be a pretty good game.”
