Kee Play

Before the season began, Los Amigos Coach Roger Takahashi was predicting big things for transfer student Najja Kee, who hadn’t played football since his freshman year at Orange Lutheran.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid this big with this kind of quickness,” Takahashi said.

Apparently Los Amigos’ opponents haven’t seen anything like Kee either. Kee, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound junior, has rushed for 1,055 yards in seven games, including a school-record 311 yards last week against La Verne Bonita and a 207-yard effort against Pacifica three weeks ago.

Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case, whose team’s defense has the unenviable task of trying to stop Kee tonight, said he has watched film of Kee running wild against Bonita.

“He’s basically done the same thing he’s been doing the last six weeks, he just happened to have a lot more field in front of him this time,” Case said. “And when he gets out in the open field, he usually doesn’t get caught. That’s unusual for somebody his size who’s so young.”

If Kee had stayed at Orange Lutheran, Case and the rest of the Garden Grove League wouldn’t have to spend so much time devising ways to stop him. But Kee said he was never comfortable at Orange Lutheran and it was never his idea to go there.

“I had wanted to go to Los Amigos all along, but my parents didn’t want me to,” he said. “They wanted me to try Orange Lutheran. I tried it out for a year and I didn’t like it.”

Kee said he had nothing against the football team or the coaching staff. He simply didn’t care much for the school, though he wouldn’t be more specific.

“I feel pretty comfortable here,” Kee said.

Takahashi said Kee seems to be a better fit at Los Amigos.

“I think he felt a little out of place at Orange Lutheran,” Takahashi said. “Our ethnic makeup and our population is pretty diverse.”

Because Kee lives in the Santa Ana High attendance area and was transferring from a private to a public school, he had to apply for an inter-district transfer to attend Los Amigos. He was awarded the transfer by the Southern Section, but section rules specify an athlete must sit out one season of varsity competition when he transfers from one district to another. Kee could have played junior varsity last year, but he chose to concentrate on academics.

Takahashi said Kee has been worth the wait.

“He looks like a freight train,” Takahashi said. “But he’s a nice kid and he’s really coachable.”

Kee probably couldn’t have picked a better coach for his talents or a better line to run behind. Though Takahashi has strayed from his run-first philosophy in recent years, he has returned to his roots with Kee and a senior-dominated offensive line that averages more than 240 pounds and dwarfs other lines in the Garden Grove League.

“At best, I certainly like to spread the ball around,” Takahashi said. “This year, we haven’t been able to develop that throwing aspect of the offense, so all the attention’s on [Kee].”

Los Amigos and Kee started slowly. The Lobos lost their first two games--to Division I Fountain Valley, 31-7, and to Division V Valencia, 7-0. But since the Division VIII Lobos began playing teams their own size, they haven’t lost.

Lately, Takahashi has dared teams to stop his running game. He is using the stack I, a formation that puts Kee behind fullbacks Egbert Payan (245 pounds) and Shaun Tagatauli (230).

“That’s a lot of power coming at you,” Takahashi said. “If one guy misses you, the other one is going to get you.”

Kee credits much of his success to his blockers.

“The fullbacks and line are opening the holes,” he said. “I’m doing my part by carrying the ball. But without my line, I wouldn’t be anywhere.”

Kee, who has dropped about 20 pounds since the season began and added some quickness, said he knew he’d be going somewhere against Bonita.

“Our goal was to get 300 yards,” he said. “We always try to get 200, but we thought we’d bump that up a bit last week.”

As the season winds down and Kee’s numbers continue to grow, Takahashi said he’s seeing teams try anything and everything in attempts to slow down Kee.

“We’re seeing a lot of blitzing and a lot of submarining of our offensive line,” he said. “Bonita tried that and it worked, but it left a lot of one-on-one matchups with Najja and a defensive back.”

Kee doesn’t know what defensive scheme to expect this week against Rancho Alamitos in a game that will probably decide the Garden Grove League title, but he’s ready for the ball.

“I look forward to getting the ball a number of times,” he said. “It’s something I expect.”

He also expects to let Rancho Alamitos’ defenders know they played against Najja Kee.

“I try to give it before I take it,” he said. “I figure if I hit them before they hit me, I won’t feel it as much.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LOS AMIGOS VS. RANCHO ALAMITOS

Featured Game

When: 7:30 tonight.

Where: Bolsa Grande High.

Records: Los Amigos 5-2, 3-0; Rancho Alamitos 7-0, 4-0.

Rankings: Rancho Alamitos is No. 3 and Los Amigos is No. 8 in the Southern Section Division VIII rankings.

Noteworthy: Los Amigos Coach Roger Takahashi and Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case love to run the ball and both have the backs to do it. Los Amigos has the bigger backs, but Rancho Alamitos has the speed. Rancho Alamitos’ undersized defensive line will have a hard time matching up with Los Amigos’ offensive line that averages 245 pounds, but the Vaqueros will be helped by the return of 300-pound defensive tackle Alfie Ramos, who is back from a season-long knee injury. The difference might be Rancho Alamitos’ special teams, which have scored five touchdowns.