MENOMINEE, Mich. (WJMN) – Menominee’s Kaeden Calcari has skills you can’t teach.
“He’s a bit electrifying,” said Chad Brandt, the head coach for the Maroons. “I think Kaeden has instincts to be around the football. It’s enabled him to make some great plays. When he does some electric plays, like a great catch, a punt return, or a little shake-n-bake, he does that and he gets our guys excited. That kind of energy spills over to our kids so that’s a great attribute that he has.”
“If he draws up a play and it’s there I just got to get it done,” said Calcari. “That’s how I think of it, there is only one way around it, you either make the play or you don’t so I try to do my best.”
A three-year varsity starter, Calcari has always had a knack for the big play.
“He’s a skilled athlete,” said Brandt. “He has quick-twitch and we always try to get the ball to him in space. So, he had a punt return for a touchdown first game, and a kick return to the one-yard line in the second game. He caught a touchdown, he ran a touchdown. So, he did these kinds of things the past couple of years as well. Defensively, he’s usually in coverage. Sometimes we roll him up, sometimes we have him on the outside. We move him around on the defense as well because he’s a great asset to have with speed and skill.”
With a goal of playing at the next level, Calcari says he’s been focusing on the finer details to help make him a better player and so far this season, it’s shown.
“I’ve seen growth in his game in the receiving end,” said Brandt. “Crisper routes, more disciplined in his routes, and then trying to be more focused on the task at hand. So, sometimes he just relied on his athletic ability or his quickness and it seems like now he’s trying to lock in a little bit more.”
“This summer I was like, ‘jeez, it’s here, my senior year,'” said Calcari. “I just got to do everything in my power to make myself better and make my team better. So, working out, helping these kids work out, getting in the weight room, and just having fun honestly.”
If the Maroons want to defend their share of the G.N.C. title this season, Calcari will have to continue growing as a player and a leader.
“We’re a young team,” said Brandt. “We’re playing sophomores and freshmen on our varsity which is not ideal but that’s just the situation we’re in. The kids have seen Kaeden making plays since his sophomore year. Gathering interceptions and gathering punt returns for touchdowns. So, they’ve seen him at all three parts of the game. These young kids that came up in junior high and now they’re sophomores, juniors, and freshmen, they see Kaeden and now they’re his teammates. So, I think it helps them feel a part of the team like I’m a part of that and I want to continue to work to be a player like that.”
“I always try to hold myself to a standard for kids to look up to me and want to play football,” said Calcari. “Kids aren’t going to come out here just to get beat down they obviously love the sports. So, I just want to make it enjoyable for them, and winning is fun and everybody wants to win so I just try to raise their spirits and try to get that, if it’s fourth down, the extra drive so we can get that opportunity to score and win.”
