Bonner-Prendie’s Avery Hankey feels ‘snoozed on,’ but patience has paid off for the running back

Whoever said “patience is a virtue” probably wasn’t being chased by large, surly teenagers desperately trying to win a football game.

Still, Avery Hankey, Bonner-Prendergast High School’s short-in-stature, big-on-heart senior running back, has been developing the patience of an ain’t on and off the field for years.

Despite leading the Catholic League in rushing last season (1,176 yards), the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder still feels like he’s been deemed a player who just “ain’t” big enough, strong enough, or good enough.

“It feels like I’m an underdog,” Hankey said Wednesday evening at practice. “Feels like I’m slept on, snoozed on. Feels like a lot of people just think that I’m not that good.”

The nearly 600 yards he’s rushed for in the last three weeks beg to differ.

At 5 p.m. Friday, though, Hankey and the Friars (3-1, 3-0) face visiting rival Neumann Goretti (4-1, 3-0), whom they beat, 26-14, last season.

“Right now, we’re at the top of the chain and we have a target on our backs,” Hankey said. “It’s getting serious. It’s getting to be that time. Friday is going to be a really big night.”

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Hankey arrived on Bonner-Prendie’s Upper Darby campus with high expectations. He had been regarded as one of the area’s top eighth-graders during his time within the Drexel Hill Raiders youth football team.

The pandemic, however, scuttled his freshman year, meaning Hankey’s sophomore season was truly his first chance to shine.

But a logjam in the Friars backfield made that unlikely.

Mason Peterson, now a running back at East Stroudsburg University, was the starter that year and was named PCL MVP by league coaches.

“I was so low on the running back depth chart that I was ready to give up on playing running back,” Hankey said.

Conversations with his dad, Joel Phillip, eventually steadied his resolve.

“He played a really big role,” Hankey said. “He was like, ‘You got to trust me on this one.’ And I’m glad I trusted him.”

Hankey, as a sophomore, showed B-P coach Jack Muldoon glimpses of what Muldoon had seen when Hankey was in seventh grade.

“I just told him, ‘You just have to be patient,’ and he was,” said Muldoon, who was Blue division coach of the year last season. “I’m glad he stayed with it.”

Perseverance also was required this season after the Friars’ rushing attack was stifled in a 36-0 drubbing against Salesianum in Week 2.

Hankey managed just 33 yards on 15 carries.

He bounced back with 230 yards on 22 carries against Archbishop Carroll, 95 yards on 20 totes against Cardinal O’Hara, and 197 yards on 26 attempts in last week’s win against Archbishop Ryan.

That’s 522 yards on 68 tries in the last three games (7.6 per carry).

“Something just clicked in us after that game,” he said. “That switch turned on. It shouldn’t have taken that long to turn on, but it turned on and it’s not turning off.”

Later, he added: “It’s just been foot on the gas nonstop ever since.”

So far, the opposite has been true of recruiting for Hankey.

Muldoon says a few things have worked against his star running back.

The NCAA transfer portal currently acts as a pool of de facto free agents, meaning college coaches can shop in the portal for veteran players instead of recruiting inexperienced freshman.

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Hankey’s size also plays a factor, Muldoon said, adding that college coaches tend to first seek players with more obvious physical attributes.

Muldoon does, however, expect Hankey to be recruited after the season ends when more coaches have evaluated his film.

“He’s a very talented running back,” Muldoon said. “He’s going to be very productive for any school he attends.”

So it would seem, success is just a matter of time for Hankey. It also seems his plan is relatively clear.

“Stay patient,” he said. “Wait your turn. Stay patient. Be humble. Learn how to accept the cards that you’re dealt. And if not, then you just got to find a way, or make your own way.”