One of Stockbridge’s most recent athletic standouts is making his presence known a few miles north.

Kelton Dawson is in his senior year at Eastern Kentucky University, which is located straight up I-75 in Richmond, about 15 miles south of Lexington. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound defensive lineman is looking to help the Colonels have spectacular success this season in the ASUN Conference and was part of a wild win over a favored team just over a week ago.

Dawson was part of a 2016 team at Stockbridge that made school history with a 13-1 record, a region championship and an appearance in the state semifinals. He was named first-team all-region as a senior and was a two-year captain with more than 70 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks during the final two seasons of his high school career. He also played on the school’s basketball team.

Rated as a three-star prospect by ESPN and other national scouting services, Dawson went to Georgia Tech where he redshirted his first year and then played in two games as a freshman. After seeing action in 11 games as a sophomore and recording 26 tackles as well as a forced fumble, he made the move to Eastern Kentucky with two years of eligibility remaining.

“It was really just to get away from Atlanta,” he said of the transfer. “I was starting at Georgia Tech so it wasn’t about playing time. “It was just for me to focus and get the opportunity I wanted.”

He made an immediate impact in 2021, earning second-team All-ASUN honors. He totaled 31 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks, while forcing two fumbles. In one game against Lamar he posted season highs of six tackles, three tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

After starting the 2022 season with a 42-34 loss at Eastern Michigan, the Colonels won a 59-57 thriller in 7 overtimes at Bowling Green. For that performance against an FBS team (the classification with the largest schools and conferences), Eastern Kentucky was chosen as the FCS (smaller classification) Team of the Week.

The home opener against Charleston Southern was a 40-17 win, followed by a 31-20 loss on the road against Austin Peay. A home game was scheduled this past weekend against Southern Utah, with future opponents including Sam Houston, North Alabama, Southeast Missouri, Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State, and Kennesaw State. Most of those opponents are fellow members of the ASUN conference, which is based in Atlanta.

“We’re just working hard every day, and whatever God has planned is what we’re going to go with,” he said. “We are looking to beat our opponent and be 1-0 every week. If the conference championship comes, it’ll be because we did that.”
The Colonels’ first two games were televised on ESPN3. If you have the ESPN app, you can watch all of Eastern Kentucky’s games this season on ESPN+.

But Dawson’s family will not be parked in front of a TV set. They enjoy making the drive up to see him play in person. “They’ll be here Saturday,” he said the day before the Charleston Southern game.

Dawson already has his bachelor’s degree in business administration and his dream is to take his shot at the NFL.

“Whatever I can do in football after college, I want to take that as far as I can,” he said. “But I love Stockbridge, and if [NFL] doesn’t work out I want to be a coach. I love the game of football.”