Like watching Michael Jackson perform when he was 10 years old you knew this Pierce line would be good once it grew up.
Welp, it grew up and now Pierce is on the short list of teams positioned to win Record of the Year in Class C-1. Could be that record is 13-0.
At the center of this outstanding unit, literally, is senior center Kaleb Anderson. At 5-foot-11, 260 pounds he’s the biggest of the bunch and like Michael he sets the tone for his crew.
“We try to be mentally sounds, knowing our plays and executing them, and then we want to be physical, more physical than any team we play,” says Kaleb, who is in his second year as a starter. “Our line has good experience, real good, with some of the guys playing since they were sophomores and most of us being starters last year.”
When Pierce takes the field you are immediately impressed by the athletic ability and size of its offensive line. And depth. The Bluejays play four guards, four tackles...and one center. That’s right, ol’ You Know Who.
“Kaleb is a tremendous young man. He is one of our most dependable, reliable guys,” says Pierce head coach Mark Brahmer. “Besides that he’s a great worker and always polite, kind and respectful. He’s definitely one of those young men you’d want your daughter to bring home.
“As a player, because of his diligent work, his overall talents, and his intelligence, he’s made himself into one of the best centers, if not the best center, in Class C-1.”
That said, somebody’s got to start so you will find Anderson at center, Colby Rickart and Wyatt Flesner at the tackles, Jacob Meier at one guard and Carter Rohrich and Dylan Svoboda sharing the other guard position, and Ryder Fuchs and Jadon Magdanz at the tight end positions. It is the best offensive line in Class C-1 football for 2018.
Coming into the season much was expected of Pierce football. Longtime followers of the game might find that a funny sentence since over the years much is almost always expected of Pierce football. Thing is, prior to last season the Bluejays had only one playoff game since 2012, which is like an eternity in Pierce football years.
And 2017 didn’t start out so hot, either, as the Bluejays lost two of their first three games and there was a severe case of what-the-heck’s-going-on blanketing the team. From that point on, though, Pierce took off, reaching the playoffs, upsetting No. 2 seed Fairbury in the first round and reaching the semifinals before the party ended.
You do that, and have that famous Pierce High pasted across your chest, people are going to expect a lot of you the next year. Especially with nine starters back on both sides of the ball.
“We knew there were expectations by other people but mainly we wanted to live up to the expectations of our school and our community,” says Kaleb. “We for sure wanted to win the Norfolk Catholic game.”
Ah yes, the Norfolk Catholic game. Or as they call it 15 miles down the road, the Pierce game. The best high school football rivalry in the state and you can bet Kaleb and his classmates wanted to win that game. See, they never have. Never, junior high, high school, never.
“The whole season is bigger than one game and we want to be able to find a way to win a lot of playoff games but getting that first one was pretty sweet,” says Kaleb, savoring the 48-29 victory that sent Pierce stock soaring to a record high.
Born in Norfolk, Kaleb has lived in Pierce his entire life and is a huge Kansas City Royals fan, as he enjoys baseball almost as much as football. He carries a 3.3 GPA, competes in track and field, and is third baseman and pitcher for the local American Legion baseball team.
He’s not sure about playing sports in college, though the right offer could clear that up. He plans to study to become either education, where he would become a teacher and coach, or sports management, where being a pro player’s agent has some appeal
Pierce football through the years has produced some great teams, among them the 2007 and 2008 state champions that Kaleb sees as the standard his team is seeking to reach. “It’s great to be part of the Pierce football family where our sport means so much to all of us.”
And who knows this year’s team just might win that Grammy for Best Group after all.
