CUMBERLAND — A hard-hitter with a nose for the football, Allegany linebacker Khiante Bible was the heart and soul of the Campers’ defense.
Bible racked up 140 tackles, nearly twice as many as his next-closest teammate, and was the key piece on a defense that held five of its final seven opponents to 21 or fewer points.
Allegany returned to the state playoffs for the first time since 2009, and Bible, a sophomore, was rewarded for his part by being voted Pepsi-Cola Defensive Player of the Year by the area’s head coaches.
“I think he’s deserving,” Allegany head coach Bryan Hansel said. “I think he had a great defensive year, and with the workload we asked him to carry offensively too, especially after losing Amani (Blowe), I think it was nice to see him get recognition in our area.
“I just hope that for him it’s just the beginning of more awards to come for him.”
The area football awards were chosen at a meeting of the area’s head coaches in late December.
Six coaches attended the meeting. Bible received four votes, and Fort Hill’s Kyler Miller nabbed the other two.
The winners will be revealed a day at a time, culminating with the All-Area team next week.
Fort Hill center Casey Martz was named the John B. “Jack” Gilmore Memorial Lineman of the Year in Thursday’s Times-News, and Frankfort’s Kevin Whiteman was awarded Coach of the Year on Wednesday.
Bible finished with 43 solo tackles, 11 tackles for loss and four pass breakups, and he had eight games with 10 or more stops.
Freshman linebacker Maddox Hensel was second on the Allegany defense with 75 tackles, and only one other player, DJ Riley (68 tackles), had 60 or more stops.
“There were a lot of games that he kind of closed the door on teams,” Hansel said. “He flies all over the field. There’s times he’s making solo tackles, attacking space, that stands out for me.”
Despite being just a second-year high school student, Bible is a physical specimen at 5-foot-10 and a sturdy 190 pounds.
He made several crushing tackles in open space, displaying an old-school brand of football that his teammates rallied around.
“He’ll continue to get better reading the football,” Hansel said. “I think he is a natural linebacker, but I think when he sees it, he gets to it now and his ability to close an 8-10-yard window in such a short space and what could be a three-yard gain against someone else or four-yard game is a zero or one.
“And I think the ability to get to balls now once he commits to it is an unteachable aspect of his game.”
There’s still plenty of room to grow, however, and Bible has already hit the ground running this offseason.
“He does freaky things in the weight room,” Hansel said. “He’s really strong. I think he had a good off season where he kind of focused on his body and I think he’s maturing. That’s a year-round process.
“This off season, he’s already requested a diet plan and to get on it early. He’s really grown up quickly, so he kind of took some leadership mentality this year, which was a good thing for him.”
Bible carried a heavy workload on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 1,159 yards and 12 touchdowns on 139 carries, and he caught seven passes for 179 yards and another score.
The sophomore is the eighth Allegany player to win Defensive Player of the Year, joining Kristian Robinette (2015), Kirk Robinette (‘14), Brandon Link (‘07), Andy Wilson (‘99), Michael Fields (‘94), Randy Wolford (‘88) and Tom Preaskorn (‘81).
The previous three winners of the award are currently playing college football: Carter Hess (Fordham), Jaylan Atkinson (Albright) and Nick Willison (Edinboro), all former Fort Hill standouts.
Bible has aspirations of extending that streak.
“From freshman to sophomore year, he took a jump,” Hansel said. “And I think from sophomore to junior (year) is where you really, if you want to play college football, you really gotta go that next step.
“It’s gonna be huge for him to have an offseason where he works on hip mobility and his speed. Not that he’s slow, but I think he needs to start putting some of those numbers on paper for these coaches to see how good he really is.”