Bentley Likes to Make Stand

Kevin Bentley is most excited when his back is against the wall and a running back is diving in his direction. Just the anticipation of such a situation makes his voice rise and his speech quicken.

“I love [goal-line stands],” said Bentley, an inside linebacker on the Montclair Prep football team. “They don’t have anywhere to run and hide. They have to come right at me.”

Mountie opponents have learned to run away from Bentley whenever possible. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior has developed a reputation for relentless pursuit and hits that leave victims wobbling as if they’ve just ridden the Tilt-a-Whirl.

“Last year I was like an animal, just trying to kill people wherever they were at,” Bentley said. “But this year I’m more of a controlled hitter. I do my technique right and then I get even better shots at people.”

Told that such comments make him sound like an assassin, Bentley demurs.

“It’s all in fun,” Bentley said. “I wouldn’t want to seriously injure someone. I’ll knock them down and help them up and then put them back down on the ground the next play.”

Montclair Prep (5-2-1), a freelance team placed in the Southern Section Division IX playoffs, will need Bentley’s ferocity in its first-round game Friday at second-seeded Mira Costa.

The Mustangs (8-2), who draw from an enrollment of 2,000, beat Montclair Prep, which has a student body of 380, by 27 points last season in a first-round game.

“I love playing them again because last year that was my best game of the season,” Bentley said. “We played with them until the end of the third quarter. We just let a couple of mistakes beat us.”

Bentley, who played on the Chatsworth High varsity as a sophomore, has no regrets about following his friend Carlease Clark, a Mountie defensive back, to a school with so few students.

Despite its size, Montclair Prep has produced several Division I college players, including Northwestern linebacker Anwawn Jones.

Bentley and Clark figure to make the jump as well. Bentley, who said he has achieved the standardized test score to be eligible to play as a college freshman, plans to visit California, Wisconsin, Arizona and Arizona State.

Montclair Prep Coach George Giannini said he has watched film of Bentley with more than 25 college coaches this year and all have been impressed.

“Most of them say he could play for them right now,” Giannini said. “They like his form, his quick feet and of course, his aggressiveness.”