A Stellar Silver Spring Teen on the Gridiron and in the Classroom

Northwood Senior Earns Division I Football Scholarship

By Lauren Burkett

Northwood High School senior Lucas Kane will be attending  prestigious Davidson College this fall on  a football scholarship.

Davidson, located in North Carolina, just north of Charlotte, competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Lucas, who lives on Wire Avenue, has only been playing football since his freshman year, and he was recognized by Davidson’s head coach who came to Northwood in search of not only an athletically talented student, but also one with an  academic performance record to meet the college’s high standards of admission. The coach made the six-hour trip from the heart of North Carolina in the hopes of picking up prospective student-athletes. Lucas was offered a full scholarship complete with financial aid to cover all four years at the academically rigorous  college.

Only six  students from Northwood High School previously have earned football scholarship money, according to Dennis Harris, Northwood’s varsity football coach for 10 years.  “Lucas is a true student-athlete,” Harris said in an e-mail interview. “He has carried greater than a 4.0 GPA for his entire high school academic career.”

Maintaining a high GPA shouldn’t be a problem for Lucas because he aspired to attend a college where he could make a difference in the classroom and in athletics. Coach Harris calls Lucas “very goal oriented.” He added: “In a post-season meeting after his sophomore year, he told me that he wanted to play Division 1 football and that he would do whatever it takes, and here we are!”

At 6-foot-6 and 270 lbs., he played left tackle for the Gladiators.

Lucas remained very choosy of the college he would attend because he wanted to be sure  he would like his college choice. Even larger universities, such as  Brown and Georgetown, contacted him  about playing football on their teams. Davidson College is an independent liberal arts institution with about 1,700 students. The college has  an acceptance rate of only 25 percent.

Davidson’s coach has been trying to rebuild the team to its earlier standard, with several seniors graduating this year. 

Lucas, son of Vicki and Steve Kane, will have no problem fitting into his new home away from home. Indian Spring’s very own contribution to Division I college football hopes this fall to earn playing time with the Wildcats in games at  Richardson Stadium. The football team has games scheduled against Princeton, Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.

Congratulations to Lucas for receiving such an honorable achievement.

(ISCA resident Lauren Burkett is a rising senior at Northwood High School.)