John Raffel
Sports Scene
Kolby Casaday has been putting up impressive numbers on the football gridiron.
A 5’8″, 150-pound senior fullback for Haslett, Casaday has been helping his team hold its own against tough Lansing-area schools.
“Our record doesn’t show it, our record is 1-2, but we’ve played unbelievably and we have nothing to hang our heads about,” Casaday said. “We have the potential to win the rest of our games. We have to play hard all four quarters and not just the second half.”
Against Okemos, Casaday had 154 yards and two touchdowns. He combined for 199 yards in the other two games.
Last year, Casaday was a thorn in the side of schools playing defense against Haslett.
“I had a pretty good year,” he said. “It was definitely one of the best years I ever had.”
It was his first varsity season, but Casaday made an impressive adjustment to that level.
“I’ve improved a lot,” he said. “I’m trying to use my speed and use any hole I can find.”
He focused a lot on improvements in preseason workouts.
“I’ve worked out and have gotten a lot stronger,” Casaday said. “My strength helps my speed too. Just watching film and going over things last year that I needed to work on, I improved my overall game a lot.”
He added that he wants to focus on hitting the holes hard and keeping his head up.
“I need to look for where to go and what blockers to cut off of,” he said.
Haslett has also been taking advantage of Casaday’s blocking skills whenever he’s not carrying the ball. “If I don’t block, I’ll go on out to the flats [as a receiver],” he said.
There are plenty of reasons for Casaday to feel confident about his team’s prospects the rest of the season.
“We’re closer as a team and we have a way better work mentality,” he said. “All-around, I think we’re better.”
Casaday also plays basketball and runs track but said football is his best sport. He’s played it since second grade.
“I actually started out as a lineman my first couple of years,” said Casaday, a running back for six years. “We had an open tryout, I went to try out for running back and the rest is history.”