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Askew-Henry has hometown apprentice in secondary

West Virginia safety Dravon Askew-Henry (6) has a hometown apprentice this season, with freshman Kwantel Raines arriving from Aliquippa, Pa.

 

— By Sean Manning, The Dominion Post

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Dravon Askew-Henry has been around the West Virginia football program four years, played three positions in the secondary and worked alongside the likes of K.J. Dillon, Karl Joseph and Kyzir White who are now in the NFL.

Askew-Henry has been through the ups and downs of college football, from being a freshman all-American to suffering a season-ending injury.

The Aliquippa, Pa., native is the old man on the block now, entering his senior season and locked into the Spur safety spot. After playing with future pros his entire career, the mention of one newcomer had Askew-Henry smiling.

Kwantel Raines, a consensus four-star freshman from Aliquippa, arrived on campus this month, and Askew-Henry has taken the hometown kid under his wing.

“I’m really close with him. I can literally walk to his house back at home — he was right down the street from me growing up,” Askew-Henry said. “He is a great kid and has always been athletic. I’m glad that I can get a chance to play with him.”

Raines led Aliquippa to a 12-1 mark in 2017, part of a defense that allowed just one touchdown the entire regular season. His path to Morgantown was nearly identical to Askew-Henry’s — including the pressure of being a highly rated player in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League with Pitt and Penn State in heated pursuit.

Both players endured local backlash for signing with WVU, and Askew-Henry may have nudged Raines in his direction.

“I would just be sitting in the porch, he’d walk by and we’d always talk,” Askew-Henry said. “He always said that he was going to come here and play with me, and it actually happened.”

When Askew-Henry enrolled, in 2014, he was a back-end secondary player. He started his first game against Alabama to begin a two-year stint at free safety before sitting out 2016 with a torn ACL. In 2017, he moved around among free, Bandit and Spur to accommodate other injuries.

Raines looks to be a Spur from the beginning. With his instincts and ability to stop the run, he’s a natural fit close to the line of scrimmage. Raines is working behind Askew-Henry this season as the Mountaineers seek to replace White.

“I would go back home and check out some games when I could, and Kwantel was pretty good,” Askew-Henry said. “He’s already got the size coming in here as a freshman to play Spur. We’ve been going after it every day together and he’s an Aliquippa guy, so I know he’s going to be bringing it every day.”





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