Irresistible force

Initially, you react to C.E. Kaiser’s size.

Not so much the 6 feet, 5 inches or the 260-odd pounds. Those numbers are impressive, sure.

It’s the feet.

The Central Valley High School senior offensive and defensive lineman laces up size 17 cleats. Hang a little bunting, add a banner or two and one of Kaiser’s shoes could become a homecoming float.

“If he ever grows into those feet, he’d be a monster,” CV assistant coach Steve Kent quipped.

He’s not that far from it now.

As an offensive tackle, he’s an immoveable object. As an All-Greater Spokane League defensive tackle, he’s an irresistible force – helping the Bears post three consecutive shutout football victories before allowing a touchdown against University last week.

Kaiser currently is weighing football scholarship offers from two Division I colleges.

Making a decision – and making the right decision – is always a challenge for a high school senior. It’s especially important for athletes looking for the right fit.

“You want to make sure you’re putting yourself in the right situation when you have a choice to make,” Kent said. “And when you’re juggling different offers, you have to be careful.”

Kent knows all about the choices – having made them himself after graduating from West Valley in 1974.

The former head football coach at his alma mater played college football at Eastern Washington, sent players off to play college football and watched as his son, Craig, was heavily recruited nationally before accepting a track and field scholarship at the University of California at Berkeley.

“I always knew it was a tough decision for kids, but I never appreciated just how agonizing it could be until I saw my son go through it,” Kent explained.

Kaiser has worked hard to keep things in perspective.

“I try to make sure that, when I’m on the field, I think about football; when I’m home, I think about the things I have to deal with here,” he said. “That helps a lot.”

The senior prepared for this day by getting himself in top shape.

“I worked out every day for the last three years or so,” he insists. “I went to four different football camps over the summer: the University of Washington for two days, a half-day camp at the University of Oregon, a half-day camp at University of Idaho and our team camp here at CV.”

Those are all activities college football coaches look for in potential recruits.

A fact of life for football linemen is the weight room. The higher they go in the game, the more closely monitored is the amount of weight they can lift in a bench press, how much they can handle in a squat.

For Kaiser, there’s been extra emphasis on “the clean,” an exercise where the lifter powers the heavily weighted barbell from the floor to shoulder height in one explosive movement.

College suitors all want to know those numbers when they come calling.

“They all want to know what I bench; what’s my squat,” Kaiser said. “And that surprised me. I was expecting them to want to know more about what my clean was, because that’s where my explosiveness comes from. I don’t think anyone asked me about it.

But they ask for those numbers. They asked for my height, my weight, what my eye test was and what my 40 time is.”

Kaiser’s height is another eye-opening number for college coaches – and a blocking problem most GSL schools cannot match

“I’ve played against some pretty good sized guys, but the only guy I’ve played against who was my height was the guy from University,” Kaiser said. “He was 6-6, so I wasn’t able to get a good look past him.”

Being tall is a challenge in the game of football, which has as a fundamental precept the notion of getting your pads lower than those of your opponent.

“You have to train to stay low,” he said. “A lot of tall guys start off playing tall, and they never learn how to get low. That’s been a process for me, and there have been games where I don’t get as low as I should be.

“But heightwise, it’s an advantage, especially on defense. I can look over the offensive lineman’s shoulder and see the play.”

And for a big guy with gunboats for shoes, Kaiser moves extremely well down the line.

“I’ve worked really hard on my quickness,” Kaiser said. “Sometimes these size-17 feet get tangled up. In a lot of ways, getting down the line is a lot like a ballet.”

“He has the kind of body college coaches look for,” Kent said. “With linemen, you’re looking for potential. You try to pick the kids who have the best chance of developing. C.E. is a good bet.”