PORT ANGELES — Keenen Walker began his Port Angeles football career as “Stefan Walker’s little brother.”
That’s what happens when you share the same last name as someone who broke school records while putting up “video game” statistics as the Roughriders quarterback for three years.
It was only natural to start making comparisons after another Walker showed up under center as a sophomore . . . even if the two were nothing alike.
Stefan looked like he came off a starting quarterback assembly line — tall and lean at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, and equipped with a powerful right arm capable of firing 60-yard passes with ease.
Keenen, on the other hand, had a wide, relatively stout frame that always seemed better suited somewhere else on the football field.
In fact, when he first came out for Future Riders football as a 12-year-old, the coaches thought it best to put him on the offensive line at guard.
“It was actually pretty fun,” Keenen said.
If there is one thing to be gleaned from this season about Keenen Walker, it’s that he will play anywhere, any time, any way he can.
Just like his older brother, Keenen started at quarterback three years in a row for Port Angeles.
What set him apart from everyone else, however, had nothing to do with his work as the Riders’ signal caller.
Rather, it was what he did after he had broken his right arm eight weeks into the season and could no longer fulfill that role that illustrated what the 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior was all about.
“Keenen was with us all summer [for offseason drills and workouts]. He was one of the few guys who never missed anything,” Rider coach Tom Wahl said.
“I think when a kid gets that kind of a commitment, he’s not going to let anything stop him. It shows his character, it shows his commitment and it shows that he wanted to do anything he could to help the team.
“As a coach, you want kids like that. You want kids who, come heck or high water, they are going to stay out there for you, they are not just going to fold up and quit on you.
“He never did that.”
It was quite the opposite, actually.
With his arm wrapped in a bulky hard cast, Keenen became a mascot of sorts for an injury-plagued Port Angeles team seemingly held together by duct tape.
He couldn’t grab opposing runners’ jerseys, but he still delivered hard shots from the safety position and batted away passes in the secondary.
He couldn’t grip a football with his right hand, but he still ran through tackles and provided stiff lead blocks for other runners as a running back.
In a loser-out playoff against Renton, he ripped off touchdown runs of 80 and 64 yards to boost the Riders to a 23-6 win.
The week before that — just days after his injury — he had 19 tackles against Sequim.
“It didn’t matter what position, I just wanted to play,” Keenen said. “I love football, and I didn’t want to sit out and I knew I could still play with a broken arm. I wanted to help the team as much as I could.”
With that will, one can’t help but wonder what would have happened had Keenen and the litany of other injured Riders been healthy.
Having spent the entire offseason training on the field and in the weight room, Keenen came into the fall in spectacular shape.
He ran a 4.68-second 40-yard dash, maxed out on his bench press at 275 pounds and was able to squat 425 pounds.
In the first eight weeks of the season, he threw for 1,159 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He finished out the year with 887 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns on 130 carries.
Starting on defense for the first time in two seasons, he also proved to be an intimidating force at safety with 101 tackles, two interceptions and five pass deflections in 10 regular-season games.
As a result, the Olympic League coaches named him the league’s co-MVP along with Air Force recruit Frank Catelli out of Sequim.
“I don’t think there’s any question that Keenen last year was one of our better, if not best, players offensively [when PA reached the Class 2A state playoffs], and the same this year,” Wahl said.
“When we started up the meeting of the coaches, I was the first one to speak up and put Keenen up there as all-league and most valuable player. I felt like he was the best player in the league, and the stats to prove it.
“Even though he shared it, I figured he was in real good company there [with Catelli], so I didn’t feel too bad about it.”
Whether he will stay in Catelli’s company as a college football player is still up in the air.
Keenen said he wants to play for a four-year school but has only received interest from Division III University of Puget Sound in Tacoma thus far.
He envisions himself as a defensive player at that level, and Wahl agrees.
“I think when he gets with some higher level athletes, I really believe that he will rise with them,” Wahl said.
Regardless of what happens there, it seems unlikely anyone will be calling Keenen “Stefan’s little brother” anytime soon.
At this point, he’s made a name for himself.
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Sports reporter Matt Schubert can be reached at 360-417-3526 or matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.