Hough QB who caught eye of Panthers’ Cam Newton leads Huskies against Mallard Creek
Hough High quarterback Kennique Bonner-Steward threw for nearly 2,500 yards and 24 touchdowns a year ago. He led the Huskies to the N.C. 4AA state semifinals, as deep into the playoffs as any Hough had been.
Then last summer, he caught the eye of his hero, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
“I like Cam a lot,” said Bonner-Steward. “He’s always been my football idol.”
On Friday, Bonner-Steward will lead Hough (9-0) into a highly anticipated home game with Mallard Creek (8-0), which is No. 1 in the Observer’s Sweet 16. Hough is No. 2.
The game, he said, will be another highlight in a senior season that’s been full of them, starting with playing on Newton’s 7-on-7 travel team in the summer.
The Panthers’ quarterback noticed Bonner-Steward during his annual 7-on-7 competition in Charlotte. Soon after, Bonner-Steward was traveling to Georgia to practice with Newton’s travel team and interacting regularly with his football hero.
“One of the quarterback coaches from his travel team recruited me,” Bonner-Steward said. “And, man, Cam doesn’t back down from a challenge. He’s a competitive guy. We would have little throwing competitions in practice and he would be in the drills throwing with us. Everything was a challenge.”
Bonner-Steward learned something else from being around Newton so much.
“Man,” he said. “I ain’t never seen anybody’s legs that big. He’s like an action figure. I was like, ‘Dang.’ I was like, ‘I gotta make my body like that. That’s what you need in the (NFL). He’s not an ordinary QB, and I don’t want to be one either.”
Actually, Bonner-Steward has been far from ordinary. He moved to Charlotte with his father after playing his freshman and sophomore seasons at two Fayetteville high schools. He said he wanted to play on a bigger stage. Bonner-Steward said the family moved into the Hough district, where Bonner-Steward has thrived.
This season, Bonner-Steward has completed 65 percent of his passes (125-of-193) for 1,950 yards and 24 touchdowns, the same total he had in 15 games as a junior. He’s played nine games this season.
He’s also rushed for 379 yards and five touchdowns on 66 carries.
“He’s a great kid from a great family and he does so many things for us offensively,” Hough coach Matthew Jenkins said. “Anybody that watches us understands that. It’s not like in the ‘80s where everybody lined up in the I-formation and handed it off to a stud tailback and then you go.
“Running the spread (offense), the QB is the leader of that. He has to make quick decisions and get the ball to athletes in space. Kennique excels in all of that.”
Bonner-Steward, who committed to play in college at Temple, is 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds. He has a powerful throwing arm and has run the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds, a time many college recruits at running back or wide receiver would covet.
And he oversees an offense that averages a school-record 41 points per game.
“I’m surprised how everything panned out for me here,” Bonner-Steward said. “I came here and didn’t know what would happen and how it would happen. And now it’s coming to the end of my senior year and I get see how everything is working out - and it’s pretty good.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Hough QB who caught eye of Panthers’ Cam Newton leads Huskies against Mallard Creek."