Kosciusko’s Devonte’ Ellis has the one thing that cannot be coached — pure, unadulterated speed.
Ellis returns to Kosciusko for his season with the unofficial title as the fastest man in Class 4A football after winning the 100-meter dash in last year’s state track meet.
Ellis’ game-breaking speed was one of the reasons the Whippets ditched the flex-bone offense for more of a traditional spread offense.
The speedy Ellis has been named to the Star-Herald’s Top Eleven To Watch for 2019, joining Antonio Harmon of Kosciusko, Izik Stewart of Ethel, Thomas Costilow of Winona Christian School, Wykece Johnson of Central Holmes Christian School and Percy Lewis of McAdams.
“Devonte’ has predominantly been playing defense for us,” Kosciusko head coach Kelly Causey said. “Basically, he’s an outside linebacker and is a big-play guy for us on defense. He makes a bunch of tackles for loss and the biggest reason for that is his speed. He won the 4A 100-meter dash last year, so he can fly. With us changing offense this year, we are going to use him at running back some and let him utilize that speed. He’s 5-11, 190, and he’s a thicker kid that can take the pounding of running the football. We are going to utilize him on both sides of the football. We are going to let him run the ball and we think he will have a big year for us.”
Ellis said he has run 4.38 in the 40-yard dash and runs a 10.6 in the 100-meter dash. Ellis also said he has gotten a wide range of interest from college teams including Memphis, Louisville, Colorado State, Tulane, South Alabama, North Alabama and Alcorn State. On the junior college circuit, Ellis said Coahoma, Southwest, Northwest and Copiah-Lincoln have shown interest.
“You are going to get a look with that kind of speed,” Causey said. “I think he is going to be a guy that is going to get a lot of looks because of his speed and somebody is going to sign him because of that. Normally, guys that can run like that weigh like 140 pounds, but he weighs like 190 pounds and that’s pretty thick for a guy that can run like that.”
Another thing that makes Ellis attractive to the college coaches is his academics. Ellis has a 3.0 GPA and has already made an 18 on the ACT, making him an automatic qualifier.
“He’s a good kid and makes strong grades,” Causey said. “He doesn’t get in trouble and does what he is supposed to do. He has really matured a lot over the last year in his work ethic. He has worked really hard in the weight room. He is a quiet kid but is one of our stronger kids in the weight room for his size. He’s going to make somebody a good football player.”
Last year, Ellis was primarily a defensive player where he led the team with 68 tackles and six tackles for loss. He also had three sacks, three quarterback hurries, three pass deflections and two fumble recoveries.
“On defense, the biggest thing about him was he speed at outside linebacker,” Causey said. “He was a big threat for us over there because if we were going to send somebody, it was going to send him. And the biggest reason for that was his closing speed. He had the ability to run people down from behind and cause problems with his speed. He was a big-time playmaker for us on defense. He could play the run or you could drop him back in pass coverage. In the league we play in, you had to have a lot of speed on the edge and he certainly gave us that.”
On offense, Causey said Ellis will certainly see a lot more reps this season.
“His role for us will definitely be expanding on offense this year,” Causey said. “We are going to get him more snaps this year. We did some things with him on offense in the spring and he looked really good doing them. Like I said, he’s a big-time defensive player for us but with that speed, we’ve got to use him on the offensive side of the football this year.”
Ellis has embraced his role as being one of the main running backs for the Whippets. Add Ellis to speedster Antonio Harmon and transfer Chris Brown, and the Whippets have a team that can stretch opposing defenses.
“It looks like I will touch it about 15-20 times a game this season,” Ellis said. “I think going to the spread is going to be a good thing. I think it’s going to help us get down the field and get the football in the end zone. It’s been really good so far. I thought we did well with it in the spring and it’s going good so far this summer.”
Ellis also realizes he is one of the team leaders for the Whippets and hopes he can lead the team back to the playoffs.
“I feel like some people look up to me to be a leader on this team,” Ellis said. “They say they like the way that I do things and play. They say I play with a lot of anger but that I control that anger. We have to work together and communicate better on the field. I think if we can do that, we will be unstoppable. We have got plenty of speed on this team. I think we can stretch the field on anybody. We’ve just got to play better as a team.”
Ellis won the Class 4A 100-meter dash this past year with a time of 10.73 seconds, narrowly beating out Clarkdale’s Qeston Skipper who had a time of 10.74 seconds. The Whippets also finished second in the 4x200-meter relay, finishing just .30 of a second behind Northeast Lauderdale in which Ellis also ran. The 4x100-meter team made the 4A finals but was disqualified in the finals.
In the weight room, Ellis can bench press 250 pounds and squats 475 pounds.
“He has worked really hard in the weight room and is a strong kid,” Causey said. “He has committed himself to the weight room and that has helped him in track. He is a good, hard-working kid and the kind of kid that you want to see succeed.”
