Gunnar McKinley, ’23 DE, is the @1776Bank Revolutionary Player of the Week. @GLFCA1 @centurions_fb @CenturionAD @minguabeefjerky @kyhighs @HLpreps @KyHighFootball @1776Bank @MaxPreps @PrepSpin

Gunner McKinley, ’23, has made 80% of his tackles in the opponent’s backfield

Gunner McKinley is a kid we featured not long ago. In that article, we remarked the kid either goes big or goes home. Well he has gone even bigger since that article went to print. This kid is the most explosive player on the defense of maybe Kentucky’s best football team at any classification of competition.

Fletcher W. Long, KPGFootball’s Senior Scout

There is no better time than the present to anoint another Independence Bank Player of the Week. Independence Bank is proud to sponsor a weekly article highlighting players in the areas where Independence Bank flourishes who embody the same type of revolutionary service to their respective football teams which has made Independence Bank unique and special in the banking industry.  

Today we honor maybe the best DL in the entire state of Kentucky, at least if you are concerned with down linemen making explosive plays and long-sticks from the defense’s first level. Today we honor Gunner McKinley from Louisville’s Christian Academy.

McKinley’s Christian Academy-Louisville is very close to a couple of Louisville, Kentucky branches. One of the branches is located on 3901 Shelbyville Road and the other is at 1900 Colonel Sanders Lane. 

Get on by the Louisville Branches today and see our friends. Learn why Independence Bank‘s products, people, and services have started a revolution in the Kentucky banking industry. 

Speaking of friends, we have lots of friends coaching in and around the commonwealth of Kentucky. Somebody at the magazine is talking to a coach somewhere, several times a day, every day.

We got a call from one of our buddies just the other day. The caller was a defensive coordinator for a team ranked in the top three (3) in its classification of play.

We will give you only this one hint; he coaches on the staff of a team which either played Christian Academy-Louisville or saw them on film playing a team for which this coach was getting prepared.

“I will tell you what; they are the best high school football team I have seen take a Friday night field in the 20-years I have been coaching,” our friend told me over the phone. That is heady praise in deed, especially considering the source.

Well one thing good teams have in common is good players dotting the play roster. Gunner McKinley is a guy we have before featured, and not too long ago. Here is a link to that article for the curious.

We noted then that McKinley had made approximately 73% of his tackles in the offensive backfield. That percentage, since that article was published, has increased.

McKinley has 25-tackles on the year in the ball club’s first nine games. That isn’t too bad, but pretty modest by high-school, star standards. However, McKinley is number one in TFL’s (12) and QB-sacks (8) for the best football program in 3A, maybe in Kentucky. Not only that, but McKinley leads the Centurions in forced fumbles (3) and is among the leaders in fumbles recovered.

We aren’t even reporting on his prowess at TE, where he is fifth on the team in receptions (11) and among the leaders in receiving yards and receiving TD’s. We have also heard he is a bear upfront blocking in the ground game, but like we said, this award today is being awarded him for his defensive play.

Congratulations to Gunner McKinley for his “Revolutionary Play” through the first nine games of the season and the best of luck tonight at Louisville Eastern (6A). We also anticipate his performances to come throughout the upcoming playoffs, all of which has earned this magnificent Senior DL this week’s recognition from the fastest growing bank in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, our friends at Independence Bank.   

This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for Kentucky Prep Gridiron and reminding you that WE’RE JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!