Just a Hop, Skip and a Jump: Cade Hosier, Elmwood-Murdock
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You score, you gotta kick off. I get that part. But why anybody would kick the ball anywhere near Cade Hosier when they do is sort of a mystery.
An explosive all-around athlete, Cade Hosier is one of the premier kick returners in the state, last season taking three of them to the house. It is another in the manifold skills that mark the Elmwood-Murdock senior as one of Nebraska’s best all-around players in eight-man football again in 2022.
Oh, there’s more. In just nine games last season Cade rushed for 1,626 yards and 19 TDs, added 10 catches for 320 yards and six TDs (I know, I don’t know what happened on the other four), had those kickoff returns for touchdowns and added 67 tackles on defense.
Not bad for a track guy. When he’s not busy running up and down the football field Cade is busy running down the approach, ready to hop, step and jump his way into the record books. As a sophomore he won both the Class D long jump and triple jump, and last spring added a second-place finish in the triple jump; he’s also finished sixth in the 100 and 200 meters.
“I like track, too, especially the jumps. It is also an individual sport, so it is up to you alone to get where you want to be,” says Cade. “Going out for track keeps me in shape for football, and that’s very important to me.”
Good thing Cade was in shape last football season because he was doing an awful lot of running. Averaging 180 yards per game is not for the weak of heart, literally. “I like getting the ball, and feel like I get better the more carries I get,” he says, dredging up more bad news for opposing defenses.
For all of his onfield success Cade also cuts a larger swath when it comes to his contributions outside of his games.
“Cade’s a great kid and a great athlete. His track accomplishments and football stats and whatnot kind of speak for themselves but he’s also number one in his class academically, is always there to help with youth stuff -he’ll be one of our youth coaches this fall - and he teaches archery at Platte River State Park,” says Elmwood-Murdock head coach Lance Steffen. “Cade is just a great leader for our team at all levels, in our school and in our community. Great kid.”
Born in Lincoln, Cade has an older sister and a younger sister, and for fun he enjoys hunting both in the traditional sense (deer) and the Bayou sense (wild hogs). “We went to Louisiana for an entire week hunting them and we only saw one that whole time, but we got him shot,” reports Cade, adding that while boar meat is tougher it tastes good. Cade, I will take your word on that.
An outstanding and diligent student, Cade has nailed down a 3.94 GPA and is an active member of the school’s FBLA chapter, attending last spring’s state convention. Besides his football and track and field Cade is also a baseball player, any of the outfield positions his specialty. On the football field Cade wears jersey number 22, the number worn by his father, Tyler, back in the day. “He says he was also pretty good at football when he played,” says Cade. (He says....love it...)
As for his college plan, Cade reports he’s gotten offers for track but not football, not yet, but isn’t hung up about playing any sport at the next level. “If sports works out, it works out,” he says, adding he plans to study in the field of business, maybe computers, adding that becoming an accountant someday would be cool.
Last season Elmwood-Murdock played a starting lineup consisting of almost entirely underclassmen and posted a second straight 5-3 regular season, losing in the first round of the playoffs to eventual unbeaten state champion Howells-Dodge. Badly.
“That game sticks with all of us, especially me,” says Cade. “When we played good, we were really good last season, but we needed to be more consistent and that is a goal for this season. Howells was obviously a great team but they also brought a lot of intensity, which we didn’t match. It was something to learn from, and next time we are in that situation we will be better prepared. Being a year older and having a lot of seniors on this year’s team will also help.”
With seven starters back on both sides of the ball - with their superstar back as one of them - there is every reason to believe Elmwood-Murdock will be a top ten team in 2022. Where it goes from there will be dictated by how the Knights approach their opportunities. Cade believes they are ready to deliver.
“We have a very connected group since we are all together all the time, and we all have the same goals,” says Cade. “We have been working hard, really pushing each other to get better, and with a lot of two- and three-year starters I feel like our team brings a lot to the table. Now we need to make sure we are playing our best every time we step on the field. If we do that we can be a very good team by the end of the season.”