Chenry Lewis

Chenry Lewis (born October 10 1984 in Kingston, Jamaica) is an American football defensive end who played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 2004 to 2007. He now plays for Abilene Christian University as a fifth-year senior.

Personal Life

Lewis was born in Kingston, Jamaica and came to the United States with his family at the age of 15 and settled in Paterson, New Jersey. There he attended Paterson Catholic High School. According to an interview with the Daily Targum reporter Paul Yunos Jr., before he came to the U.S., Lewis played soccer and basketball. When he enrolled at Paterson Catholic High School he played basketball for the Cougars with Marquis Webb a future Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard. His high school coach recruited Lewis to play football for the Cougars since, as Lewis describes, "I just kept knocking people over [playing basketball], so football definitely seemed like the right sport for me," Lewis began playing football for the Paterson Catholic High School Cougars his sophomore year.

High school career

Lewis began his football career as a high school sophomore at Paterson Catholic High School. He played both tight end and linebacker. As a junior he made 98 tackles and 16 sacks. As a senior he completed 125 tackles and 18 sacks. He also forced five fumbles and two blocked punts. He led Paterson Catholic High School undefeated in 2003 in the Carpenter Division and grabbed the Parochial Group 1 Championship. He was also named a First Team All-State selection and the Passaic County Player of the Year by the coaches' association. He was two-time Herald News Defensive Player of the Year and 2003 Gannett First Team All-State. He received a rating from Rivals.com of 5.6 which indicates that he was considered among the region's top prospects and among the top 750 or so prospects in the country and deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team. He signed a Letter of Intent with Rutgers University for the 2004 season.

College career

2004

Lewis redshirtted his first year at Rutgers University.

2005

Lewis started his first collegiate game at Syracuse on Saturday, October 8, 2005. In the first game he started he made 6 tackles, 2 for a loss and broke up one pass. In 2005 he played in the Insight Bowl (45 - 40).

2006

For the 2006 season, Lewis changed positions from linebacker to defensive end. In 2006 he played in 12 games and made 5 solo tackles and 5 assisted tackles. He also made one sack for a loss of 5 yards. He also contributed to one of the biggest wins in school history in the 2006 victory over Louisville. He also played in the post-season Texas Bowl (Rutgers 37 - 10).

2007

Lewis played in 10 games in the 2007 season. He made 4 solo tackles, and 7 assisted tackles. He assisted in a sack for a loss of 4 yards. He was also responsible for breaking up one pass and for five Quarterback Hurries He helped the Rutgers Scarlet Knights go to the 2008 International Bowl (52 - Ball State 30). Although he did not play in the 2008 International Bowl, he made the trip to Toronto, Canada to support his teammates.

2008

Lewis completed his degree at Rutgers in May 2008 and chose to spend his final year of NCAA eligibility at Abilene Christian University. He did not appear in their first game which the Wildcats won 47-22, but hopes to dress for their game against Texas A&M-Commerce, at home, on September 13.