‘He’s a dude.’ Frederick Douglass’ Aveion Chenault hitting his stride in senior season.
Frederick Douglass wide receiver Aveion Chenault seems to have turned a corner early in his senior season. With his incredible speed and athleticism, he can do that both literally and figuratively.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Western Michigan commit might be more known at Douglass for his high-flying dunks and the key role he played in the Broncos’ 2023 11th Region basketball title and run to the Boys’ Sweet 16 semifinals as a sophomore.
But this year on the football field, he has become a do-everything sensation who has nearly matched his 2023 touchdown total in just four games.
“I’m playing with way more confidence, and I’m just believing in my talent,” said Chenault, who serves as punter, punt returner and kick returner in addition to wide receiver this season. “Last year, you know, I was too hot-headed. I wasn’t level-headed, and I was too cocky.”
In Friday’s 50-14 blowout win over the host Commodores at Tates Creek’s Roy G. Walton Stadium, Chenault did something he admitted he might not have accomplished through his gridiron struggles last year. He shrugged off a couple of dropped second-quarter TD passes to deliver one of the biggest scoring plays of the game moments later.
Chenault’s drops were part of an unsuccessful Broncos drive that gave Tates Creek the ball after a fourth-down stop at the Commodores’ 14-yard line with 1:17 until halftime. Tates Creek (2-2) drove 86 yards in seven plays, capped by Darnell Burnside Jr.’s 20-yard TD pass to JT Cooper to cut Frederick Douglass’ lead to 20-7 with just under 10 seconds left in the second quarter.
“I would have been all up in my feelings still dwelling on those two drops,” Chenault said of what his reaction would have been last season. “This year, you’ve got to move onto the next play and show up for the team.”
He showed up all right.
Tates Creek launched the ensuing kickoff directly to Chenault at the Broncos’ 17-yard line. He gathered the ball in stride and accelerated dramatically as he crossed the 25. At the 30, Chenault shrugged off the first Tates Creek tackler. At the 40, he stepped out of an ankle grab that nearly took him down. He then sprinted by everyone else on the field. The halftime horn sounded as he crossed Tates Creek’s 20 on his way to the first kickoff return TD of his career.
“I know that our kickoff return team was just going to go out there and block, and I just got to hit the hole and take it long distance,” Chenault said. “The whole week I’ve been saying I was going to get me a kick return, so it was good to finally make that happen.”
Chenault wasn’t done. On the two-point conversion attempt he went in motion to take a handoff from quarterback Jaxon Strautman and lofted a perfectly placed option pass to Terry Cayson in the corner of the end zone to give Douglass a 28-7 halftime lead and steal back all the momentum Tates Creek believed it had seized 10 game seconds earlier.
Though he didn’t have any receiving yards Friday, Chenault has 152 yards and six TDs receiving this season after racking up 328 yards and seven touchdowns all of last year. His three TD catches against Manual last week helped the Broncos extend that unfortunate loss into overtime.
“He’s put the work in,” Douglass coach Nathan McPeek said. “He’s a dude, man, and probably under-recruited by what he’s done in the first four games. … He’s playing well. Defensive coordinators have to start with him.”
Douglass breaks a number of big plays
But Chenault wasn’t the only Bronco to break into a scoring sprint Friday. Sophomore running back Dakari Talbert scored on two big plays in the third quarter — a pass in the flat from Strautman that he took 86 yards and a direct snap he broke for a 73-yard TD run a few minutes later. He was barely touched.
“Thank God and my coaches for giving me the ball and believing in me,” said Talbert, who had a big game in the season opener against Bowling Green but had trouble shaking loose the last two weeks.
Eastern Kentucky commit Peyton Smith scored on an 8-yard TD run on his first touch this season. Smith, a senior Taylor County transfer, sat out the first four games with a minor knee injury. He had 33 yards on five carries and caught a 17-yard pass.
Senior tailback Pharo Watts scored on a 2-yard run and a 27-yard pass from Strautman. Sophomore rusher Jeremiah Turner notched the Broncos’ last TD on a 10-yard run. In addition to his 141 yards passing, Strautman rushed for 64 yards.
Key injuries and miscues have hurt Douglass in the losses to Trinity and Manual the last two weeks. Last year’s leading scorer, Derion Talbert, remains sidelined with a minor knee injury but should return soon. McPeek hopes to get the mental mistakes corrected and everyone healthy for the playoffs.
“We did a lot of stuff that’s uncharacteristic, penalties and alignments and (missed) assignments, and at the end of the day that’s on me,” McPeek said of the Broncos’ losses. “I thought we did a lot better job tonight.”
Big games ahead
Douglass (2-2), Class 6A’s No. 5 team, next welcomes Class 4A No. 3 Corbin to The Farm on Friday. The Redhounds (3-0) have not lost a regular-season game in almost four full seasons and beat the Broncos 6-0 last year.
Corbin’s new coach Luke Samons was a teammate and close friend of McPeek’s at Marshall and served as a groomsman at McPeek’s wedding.
“We played at Marshall together for three years,” McPeek said. “Me and Luke are very competitive guys, so that’s going to be fun.”
After that, Douglass will host Class 6A No. 1 Male before entering a district schedule that includes No. 9 Madison Central and No. 10 Bryan Station. The regular-season finale will be at Class 4A No. 1 Boyle County.
Other Lexington results on Friday
Lexington Christian 41, Christian Academy-Louisville 34: The Eagles (2-2) are the only team to beat Class 3A No. 1 CAL (3-1) in the last two years and they’ve done it twice. Leland Edwards rushed for 173 yards and two TDs. Saxton Howard rushed for 91 yards and three TDs.
Bryan Station 17, Ballard 10: The Defenders (1-3) got 128 yards rushing and a TD from Kalen “Jaws” Washington and a 5-yard James Davis TD pass to Jordan Haskins.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 48, Shelby County 7: Six Bulldogs scored, highlighted by Dominic Faulkner’s 92-yard kickoff return and Quincy Hancock’s pick six as Dunbar (1-3) notched its first win.
Great Crossing 35, Lexington Catholic 28: The Warhawks (4-0) scored four fourth-quarter TDs to hold off the winless Knights (0-4).
Other scores: DeSales 17, Lafayette 14; George Rogers Clark 50, Henry Clay 7; Sayre (bye week).
