Together, they could have been one of the best backfields the city of Tracy has ever produced.
Apart, they proved to be the players most valuable to their respective teams — and added their names to local football’s most prestigious list.
At the second annual meeting — and the only one without pads — between their two teams, Tracy High running back Tim Celestine and West High fullback Tyler Kenton received their teams’ most valuable player awards on Tuesday at the annual joint luncheon at the Tracy Community Center, hosted by the Tracy Breakfast Lions, Tracy Sunshine Rotary Club, Kiwanis and Rotary Club of Tracy.
Celestine became the 33rd running back and 81st Bulldog player to receive the Peter B. Kyne Award, and Kenton became the 14th player to receive the namesake trophy from longtime Tracy team doctor John C. Kimball.
Both seniors, both were also vital cogs in their team’s offenses and key reasons why both teams qualified for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs in the same year for the first time.
Both earned a reputation for working hard and playing hard without saying much, and they stayed true to character after receiving their awards — which, as the awards committee reminded the players Tuesday afternoon, does not always go to the player with the flashiest stats.
Celestine, who finished his varsity career with more than 2,000 yards on 188 carries — with 1,211 yards on 127 touches and 19 touchdowns this past year, when the Bulldogs made the playoffs for the first time since 1996 — said only a few words behind the podium before sitting with his teammates.
“I kinda expected it — but I wasn’t prepared for my speech,” he said later. “But I’m very happy that I won it — I worked hard to do what I do and be up there with a chance to win it, you know?”
Celestine etched his name not only onto the list of PBK winners but into the Tracy rushing record books. He is sixth all-time in career rushing yards and tied for third all-time in career touchdowns and finished his varsity career averaging more than 10 yards a carry.
“Getting the stats and all that helped, but it ain’t just about the touchdowns,” he said. “It was hard work, not complaining, not saying, ‘Coach, I need the ball.’ I just went out there and did my job.”
Kenton, one of only three starters from the 2006 Wolf Pack Tri-City Athletic League championship team who returned as a senior in 2007, was named the TCAL’s most-valuable player a year after receiving the league offensive MVP award. The fullback broke the 1,000-yard plateau splitting carries with 2006 Kimball winner Montrel Richardson in 2006 and finished with exactly 2,100 yards and 24 rushing touchdowns in his two varsity seasons.
He also boosted his grade-point average to 3.0 this past semester after tough academic years as a freshman and sophomore.
Kenton spent only about 30 seconds at the podium, but he spent it all thanking teammates and coaches, praising the hard work of the staff and his offensive line.
“Without teammates and coaches, I couldn’t have done it,” he said. “I say the whole team gets it, the way we did at the end of the season.”
Later, he said he’d give the award to the entire team, if he could.
“And he means it — it’s not (nonsense),” said West coach Steve Lopez, who added that on Tuesday, in front of the team and the community, “T.K.” said more than he had said all season long.
“He fit the bill (for the award),” Lopez added. “He’s a good athlete, plus he’s a great person. He worked his (butt) off in school — he was the whole thing, you know?”
Notes
Tracy Breakfast Lion Tom Hawkins presented the annual checks from the Peter B. Kyne Field snack bars at the luncheon’s end. Due to a drop in attendance, the checks totaled $14,000, down from $20,000 last year. … Tracy’s Chris Gutierrez and West’s Sterling Grande netted the teams’ academic awards.
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