TCA’s Keltner to move back to offense with Campbellsville football

It was in 2021 after a 28-11 loss to Middle Tennessee Christian when Trinity Christian head football coach Blake Butler got a text message from Will Keltner, a junior on the Lions that season.

“He sent me a text after midnight while the coaches were watching film from the game that night,” Butler said. “And it said, ‘If you need me to move to the offensive line, I’ll do it. I just want the team to be successful.’”

The Lions were 0-5 after that loss to MTCS. They won their next two games and won the right three games in a 3-7 regular season to make the playoffs and get to the second round.

Butler told the story of the text message before Keltner signed a scholarship to play college football at Campbellsville University on Friday.

“That’s the kind of unselfish player and teammate Will is,” Butler said. “And seeing what he’s willing to do for his teammates and his team without any gratification for him, it just shows the kind of raising he’s had growing up.”

Keltner said later he’d never played on the line before, although tight end was one of his usual positions to play, which typically lines up next to the line before the snap.

“They put me at guard, and it took me about three days in practice before I got used to it,” Keltner said. “But that MTCS game was our last game before we got into region play, and I wanted us to be as good as we could be in region games.

“And I was OK going to the line for that.”

Keltner’s versatility is evident by the fact that most of the stats Butler recited at the ceremony were all things he did playing linebacker – 268 tackles, 29 for loss, five sacks, six interceptions, four fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and three defensive touchdowns.

But he signed with Campbellsville as a tight end/H-back.

“That was part of why I wanted to sign with Campbellsville because I enjoy playing that position,” Keltner said. “But I liked the coaches, the campus, the new buildings going up on campus … I just liked everything about going there.”

Keltner is a two-sport athlete at TCA, also starting on the basketball team as well.

Head basketball coach Dexter Williams said Keltner is No. 2 on TCA’s career scoring list, behind Matthew Valentine, class of 2002 with 1,432 points.

“I need about 150 points to catch him,” Keltner said after the ceremony. “So we need to play a lot more games to do it.”

Williams said during the ceremony he hopes to see it happen.

“There’s a bunch of young men [on the basketball team] in the crowd who can help make that happen,” Williams said. “And I hope to congratulate you on doing that because we’ll need a deep run in the postseason to make it happen.”

Keltner said he hoped to help make it happen whether or not he broke the scoring record.

“As long as we’re winning, I don’t care,” Keltner said. “I mean, it would be nice to have it, but I’d take winning over breaking that record.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news