Marbles takes center stage as Big School Def. POY
How can one of the area’s most dynamic defensive backs, playing at the area’s most successful program and sporting the area’s best nickname somehow fly under the radar?
Kenderick “Bunny Rabbit” Marbles has everything a defensive coordinator could want. Ball skills. Awareness in coverage. And a gift more making big plays in the biggest moments.
The relative anonymity of Marbles was the result of a Neville secondary loaded with the kind of talent that will play on Saturdays.
It’s impossible for Marbles to hide now after he capped his senior season with The News-Star’s All-NELA Big School Defensive Player of the Year honors for 2016.
Marbles joins Ricky Wyatt, Ashari Goins and Rashard Lawrence as the latest Neville defender to take home an award once named for Tiger great Toby Caston.
“This is such a blessing. Ever since I was little I wanted to be part of this tradition and when I made it to Neville it came true,” Marbles said.
“Those guys all played or are playing college football, so to be mentioned with them is a big accomplishment for me.”
Marbles led Neville with seven interceptions while breaking up five passes, recovering two fumbles and making 34 tackles this season. An almost precognitive ability in the open field helped Marbles return one of his three interceptions against Bastrop into a 100-yard touchdown.
Marbles’ began his coming out party with two interceptions and Defensive MVP honors in Neville’s state-title win over Edna Karr in 2015; a game that left the Tiger coaching staff wondering if “Bunny Rabbit” had even tapped the surface of his potential.
“I still think from a physical side of things his development is going to go even further,” Neville head coach Mickey McCarty said. “The thing I liked about him is he was just so steady in his work habits and his improvement throughout his time with us.”
Versatility was also among Marbles’ strong suits, a trait he showed off by moving from cornerback to free safety — the position he played for the rest of his career — three games into his junior season.
“He saw that as an opportunity to get on the field more and really took to it and ran with it. It helped us get our three best defensive backs on the field, and as a coach, that is always a good thing,” Neville defensive coordinator Benjy Lewis said.
“’Bunny’ was always very coachable and he turned out to be a pretty good tackler for us too.”
Marbles said playing free safety was a more natural move than he expected.
“It was easier than I thought it would be. That’s where the team needed me to play and I was glad to do it for the team.”
Marbles, a two-star prospect per Rivals.com, verbally committed to ULM in October. Four members of Neville’s secondary — Marbles and three-star prospects JaCorion Andrews, Corey Straughter and quarterback/safety Jaiden Cole — will all sign National Letters of Intent in February.
Neville’s run at a possible championship three-peat ended with a loss to Karr in this year’s state title game, but Marbles hasn’t let any linger disappointment taint an otherwise successful final season.
“We tried to accomplish something that no other senior class at Neville had ever done and fell short. I don’t think there’s any shame in that,” Marbles said.
“We had a great run and I’ll always remember the times I had with my teammates.”
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