Bucknell University Athletics
Big Play Kizekai
10/5/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2009
By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Lafayette's Chris Cosgrove surveys the north end of Bucknell's Christy Mathewson Stadium. From 60 yards away he sees the dangerous opponent he wants to avoid kicking to. He approaches the ball and sends it to the goal line. Number 22 settles under the ball, catches it and takes off. One hundred yards later A.J. Kizekai is celebrating six points for the Bison.
Over the last four years opponent kickers kicked off to Bucknell more than 100 times knowing a touchdown is not only possible, it is likely. Kizekai has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in his career and has a knack for the big play, recording five career touchdowns of at least 79 yards.
A speedy running back in a 5'9", 195-pound frame, Kizekai owns virtually every kickoff return mark in the Bucknell record book. He has returned 96 kicks for 2,470 yards, eclipsing former record-holder Dan Scocca's previous mark by more than 600 yards. By the end of the year he could be close to doubling the old mark. He also owns the record for most return yards in a game (210), the top two spots on the single-season return yards list and the longest return.
"A.J. returns kicks, catches the ball and has to block," describes seventh-year Bucknell head coach Tim Landis. "He is a great all-around player who does so much for us. We have been able to figure out ways to get him the ball. We want the ball in his hands and we are going to do whatever we can to get it to him."
Even though Kizekai, a senior from Pawtucket, R.I., who is a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection as a return specialist, is perhaps most dangerous as a kick returner, he is listed as a running back, and not too shabby at that position either. He leads the Bison in rushing for the third consecutive year and is 220 yards from breaking into the top 10 in program history with 1,532 rushing yards.
In addition to his running ability, Kizekai is adept at coming out of the backfield and catching the ball. He enters Saturday's contest against Georgetown 10 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards.
Thanks to his versatility, Kizekai recently eclipsed the 5,000 all-purpose yards plateau, which ranks second in Bison history, eighth in Patriot League annals and fourth among active Football Championship Series players.
"A lot of my success is attributed to my teammates," mentions a humble Kizekai, who was also a Second Team All-Patriot League choice as a running back last year. "They do a lot of the hard work and I get the easy stuff. If you go back and watch the tape you see a bunch of big blocks that spring me for big plays. I get to do the easy part."
While he is an extremely gifted athlete, things have not always been so easy for Kizekai. He was not recruited at the level he would have liked coming out of Saint Raphael Academy, so he decided to attend Blair Academy in New Jersey to raise his SAT score, open more doors and prepare him for college.
"Attending Blair helped out a lot because I was able to get stronger and faster that year," describes Kizekai, who was also a member of the track & field team. "I gained an edge on some of the other guys coming in as true freshmen. In a sense, I had a redshirt year."
While at Blair, Kizekai was paid a visit by Landis and his home for the next four years was quickly decided.
"I guess Coach Landis just happened to come by at the right time," remembers Kizekai, a self-proclaimed mama's boy. "He came by, we talked and my mom liked him a lot. I had a good feeling too."
Kizekai, whose only prior knowledge of Bucknell had been hearing about the men's basketball team's success in the NCAA Tournament, proceeded to commit to the Bison without ever visiting the beautiful Lewisburg campus.
A durable back, Kizekai made an immediate impact as a rookie, rushing for 441 yards, catching six balls for 156 yards and scoring five touchdowns. He even crossed the goal line on a 36-yard run on his first collegiate carry against nationally ranked Richmond after missing the first three games with a pulled muscle that occurred during preseason camp.
Kizekai took over kick return duties from Jason Davis and Nolan Applegate as a sophomore and obliterated the program's single-season mark with 1,113 return yards. His new record was 360 yards better than Troy White's previous standard and nearly double that of any other Bison in the more than 120 years of Bucknell football. Kizekai continued to be a key cog in the offense, becoming the first Bison since 1980 to lead the team in both rushing (432 yards) and receiving (363 yards).
Last fall, Kizekai's receiving yards went up to 383 and he caught a career-high 27 passes as the Bison offense shifted away from a run-based option setup to a spread option offense that focused more on passing.
"The funny thing is I didn't catch balls in high school until I got to Blair because I had butterfingers," says Kizekai with a smile. "When I got to Blair my coach was confident enough to throw me the ball and that built my confidence. The confidence really helped and I started practicing catching balls even more."
Despite being blessed with outstanding athleticism, Kizekai's game is based on confidence. When asked to name his biggest memories of his four years at Bucknell he did not list the Colgate game where he became the first player in program history to record rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdowns in the same game, or the record-breaking Lafayette game where he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, or the 79-yard touchdown reception at Holy Cross. Instead, Kizekai described the first two kickoff returns of his sophomore year that gave him the confidence he could do the job. Of course, returning those initial kicks 47 yards and 23 yards would give most people confidence.
Kizekai, whose given first name is Ajaynue, was born in Monrovia, Liberia, and is the second-youngest of six children born to Yassah Kizekai. The Kizekai family moved to Rhode Island when A.J. was three, following his grandmother from Africa to the United States. The only lasting memory Kizekai has of his time in another country was the plane ride. On that ride he was served egg salad, a meal that still brings a look of distaste to his face 20 years later. Outside of that unappetizing meal, he has only memories of his childhood in the Pawtucket area.
"I am the youngest boy and I have a younger sister who is in college this year," Kizekai mentions. "I could get away with a lot of things. I was used to getting my way and I always took advantage of that."
With the end of his college career on the horizon next month, Kizekai, who has also been a member of the Bison track & field team and is tied for the program record in the 60-meter dash (7.01), hopes to take advantage of something else: the chance to play professionally. He has consulted with Landis on the opportunities available and sent out tapes. He has not received much feedback, but hopes that following the season he will be on the radar of a few teams, whether it is the NFL, CFL or any other professional league.
"If I am blessed with the opportunity to play football, I will definitely try to pursue that," says a smiling Kizekai thinking about his desired profession. "It that doesn't work out I guess I will figure out my plans at that point."
Luckily for Bison fans they still have at least seven more games where they can enjoy the excitement Kizekai brings to the field. It is never known the next time he might streak down the sideline for another long touchdown. It might even be this afternoon against Georgetown - one of the few Patriot League teams he has not recorded a long touchdown against.
Note: This feature story appeared in the Oct. 4 Bucknell Football Program (vs. Georgetown).
