By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
OFF to a fast start in his senior season, one Bahamian high school star on the gridiron is increasing his stock as he prepares for the NCAA.
Rondre Knowles-Tener has been a force on the defensive line for the Liberty Christian High School Bulldogs in Lynchburg, Virginia, as the team has opened the season at 2-0.
In the season opener, the 6’1” 290-pound defensive tackle finished with two tackles and a game high two sacks in his team’s 48-6 win over Word of God Academy.
In game two, he finished with four tackles, three solo, and a half sack in a 34-18 win over Brunswick.
The Grand Bahama native has already verbally committed to the East Carolina Pirates for the fall 2016 season.
Locally, he was a student at Tabernacle Baptist Academy and St George’s before relocating to the United States.
Over the past two seasons for the Bulldogs, Knowles-Tener has drawn interest from a number of elite division I programmes, including Wake Forest and James Madison.
As a junior, he finished with 29 tackles and one tackle for loss as the Bulldogs finished 9-2 and claimed the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I state title.
Liberty Christian Academy coach Frank Rocco outlined his junior defensive lineman’s growth over the course of the past few seasons.
“One of the most exciting things about Rondre and his upside is that he’s learning every day. Every day he’s learning something new about the game that some kid who’s been doing it 10 years would already know. Those kids have plateaued and levelled out. Rondre gets better and better every day,” he said in an interview with Sammy Batten of www.bonesville.net.
“Here’s a 290-pound kid who runs a 4.85 or 4.9 40-yard dash. We have video clips of him just chasing down legitimate running backs on the perimeter as they try to get to the sideline. He does that frequently from a nose tackle position. I can tell you this. He’s got some rare ability. I’ve been coaching 30 years in high school and college, and he’s in the top five-per cent of the guys I’ve coached and coached against. I’m talking innate physical tools. He’s extremely explosive and has great weight room strength. You take all those attributes and smooth off some of the rough edges, and he’s got a chance to be a really great one.”
He is also the cousin of Virginia Tech Hokies senior wide receiver Demitri Knowles, who also left Grand Bahama and attended Liberty Christian Academy in his formative high school years.
Knowles is currently a reserve receiver for the Hokies in his senior season.
“Demitri played here five or six years ago and had a good career. The two are very similar. Dimitri hadn’t played a lot of football, but really wanted to learn. He ended up getting a scholarship to Virginia Tech,” Rocco said.
“The whole family felt like that worked out well for Dimitri, so they got Rondre up here. His sophomore year he was very new to football. He really hadn’t played much organised football before coming to the states. But he picked it up quickly and got himself into football shape.”
The Bulldogs have an away non-conference game at Bishop McNamara 2pm Saturday, September 12.
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