Mercury Week 4 Football Review: Pottsgrove’s Kaiser pulls double duty
The Saturday sports section of The Mercury might as well have been dedicated to Pottsgrove’s Luke Kaiser.
Splashed across the front of the section was news of the Falcons’ return to football, a 20-7 victory over Upper Merion sealed in the late minutes when Upper Merion failed to handle a booming kickoff off the toe of Kaiser, who both kicks and punts for the team.
But it was what appeared inside the section that made Luke’s night remarkable – news of Pottsgrove’s shutout victory in boys’ soccer over Upper Perkiomen. The victory moved the Falcons into first place in the Pioneer Athletic Conference and marked the fourth shutout of the young season for the Pottsgrove goalie.
That goalie is Luke Kaiser.
2020 Mercury Area Football Leaders
Upon clinching the shutout in Red Hill, Kaiser got back to Pottsgrove in time to kick for the football team in the second half against Upper Merion and was at the center of one of the game’s defining plays.
It’s the first time the two have coincided so closely, but pulling double duty is nothing new for the senior, who’s played both football and soccer since his sophomore year. It’s going quite well, as last year saw Kaiser named both the All-PAC Frontier Division first team goalie in soccer and The Mercury’s first-team All-Area punter.
“We’ve always been a soccer family – my two older brothers played, and I got into travel pretty early,” said Kaiser, who also play basketball in the winter and tennis in the spring.
But Kaiser found himself drawn to the Pottsgrove football atmosphere once he got into high school.
“The football team was always like a family,” he said. “Always together, which is something I’ve always enjoyed about sports in general.”
There was precedent at Pottsgrove as well – Mike Sereny, himself an All-Area performer, played both soccer and football at Pottsgrove and held the starting job when Luke joined the football team in 2018.
“I talked to Mike before starting, and he told me how much fun it was,” said Kaiser.
Being part of the storied Pottsgrove tradition initially drew Kaiser’s attention, but the coaches and players made him a true teammate, not just a soccer player who shows up to kick.
“Everyone’s very inclusive, very accepting,” Kaiser said. “I think it could’ve been intimidating if I came in and was just there to kick, but [my teammates] have really brought me into the team and accepted me.”
Thursday night presented a new challenge. With rain forecasted for Friday night, Pottsgrove’s football game was moved up a day to avoid the weather, placing Kaiser in a bit of a bind as he’d have a soccer game and football game — the Falcons’ first of the season and Senior Night — concurrently.
“That was a really hard decision,” Kaiser admitted. “Coach Hawthorne talked to me at practice and told me I should go to soccer. But it’s really hard to leave any team, and I promised my (football) team I’d be back as soon as I could.
“It’s hard, missing that first game, especially in a year when we don’t know how many more games there will be. I’m not sure if I’d call it priority, it was more situational – I didn’t find out until we got to practice on Wednesday that the two games were going to conflict. I’ve had Friday afternoon soccer games where I’ve come back to football, and I’ve missed warmups – but never missed a game or part of a game like that before.”
Even days later, the decision clearly weighed on Kaiser as he recounted the events surrounding Thursday night. There’s no first or second priority with Kaiser. He takes his responsibilities to each team seriously, and both programs are better for it.
“These guys [on the football team] are trusting me to do my job (kicking and punting), which is sometimes pretty simple – they have so much on their plates,” he said.
The concepts may be simple, but Kaiser’s execution is anything but routine. Last year Luke averaged nearly 40 yards per punt, adding six field goals with a long of 44 yards in his first year as the Falcons’ full-time kicker/punter.
“Luke is a highly talented athlete, a great student, but most importantly of all, he is also a role model in our community,” said Pottsgrove coach Bill Hawthorne. H”e assists with Pottsgrove’s local youth basketball program (LPAA), assists at the local soup kitchen, and he seems to be a presence at any community event where the Pottsgrove youth is involved. Even with Luke’s busy and chaotic schedule, he finds time to give back to the Pottsgrove community.”
With the COVID-19 situation this season, the precautions and measures taken by the school district add another layer to athletes’ responsibilities, and for Kaiser that goes double.
“I wouldn’t say it’s difficult as much as it can be nerve-wracking,” he admitted. “Just the possibility of cases popping up on either team, the worry of me being the link between those teams that could potentially get something shut down is pretty scary. But the school has its guidelines on social distancing, I trust that and abide by those.”
Juggling two sports in the same season has its challenges, but Kaiser has managed to navigate those thanks to fortunate scheduling and careful planning. Generally speaking, games take precedent over practices, and practice times are staggered just enough to allow him to spend time on both fields on a day when no games are scheduled in either sport.
“Normally, I’ll leave soccer either in the middle of practice or at the end of practice and go down to kick,” Kaiser said. “We can usually plan the special teams portion of football practice so I can talk to Coach Hawthorne and [Pottsgrove boys’ soccer] Coach Witkowski and find the right time to leave soccer and head over to football.”
Will Kaiser eventually have to return to playing only one sport? If so, he’s not in any hurry to make a decision, allowing that soccer is his first love but readily discussing his enjoyment of football as well. He doesn’t even prefer to choose between kicking and punting within football, though he admits a particular interest in the technique and strategy behind punting.
In fact, there’s only one aspect of the game where Luke’s not quite as accomplished to this point.
“Last year against Phoenixville, we ran a fake punt,” he recalled, “and it was not successful.
“So my career rushing total is one carry, negative-9 yards. I’m just hoping my kicking average stays above my rushing average.”
Around the Area >> Kaiser wasn’t the only area kicker to make headlines this week. Hunter Flack sealed Upper Perkiomen’s first win of the season – a 31-14 decision over Owen J. Roberts – with a 45-yard field goal in the final minutes.
“I didn’t even realize it was [45 yards]. I just told Coach (Tom Hontz) ‘I can make it,’” said Flack, who also went 9-for-15 for 168 yards and two scores in his full-time position at quarterback. “I was hyped up, I was confident… why not?”
Flack, who only started placekicking last season, attributed the whole night’s performance to his offensive linemen, who paved the way for 418 yards of total offense, including a 2020 area-high 222 rushing yards for junior Logan Simmon.
OJR’s Dante DeNardo set new area highs for the season with 13 catches and 149 yards receiving also adding a short TD reception in the early going.
Spring-Ford clinched at least a share of the PAC title for the second straight year in blanking Methacton, 21-0. It’s the second straight shutout for a Rams defense that still hasn’t allowed a point before halftime this season. Naphtali Stine had his third interception of the year on a night where it took the Rams’ offense some time to get going. Once they did, however, Harry Adieyefeh, Nick Teets, and Andrew Yoon barreled to a 233-yard output on the ground, while Ryan Freed continued to grow into his role at quarterback, completing 65 percent of his passes for almost 100 yards.
Boyertown put together its most complete performance of 2020, but it wasn’t enough to upend Perkiomen Valley as the Vikings stayed alive for a share of the PAC title with a hard-fought 14-6 win. The Bears kept the Vikings’ offense tethered to the sideline for much of the first half in building a 6-0 lead at the break. But Ethan Kohler found Kevin Beattie for a 31-yard score in the third quarter and added a rushing TD later for the final margin. PV’s defense forced a turnover on downs in the red zone on Boyertown’s final possession.
Opening its season Saturday was Pope John Paul II, which defeated Conwell-Egan in its opener. First-year starter Rocco DiRico tossed for four touchdown passes in his first career start, while Josh Little ran 12 times for 82 yards and a touchdown to help seal the win.
Looking Ahead >> With at least a share of the league title already in hand, Spring-Ford heads to Owen J. Roberts this week hoping to finish off an undefeated PAC slate and claim an outright league championship for the second straight year. Perkiomen Valley takes on Methacton for the Battle Ax, while Boyertown hosts Upper Perkiomen.
Pope John Paul II will face its first familiar foe this season when it travels to Upper Merion on Friday. Pottsgrove will play at Phoenixville, which begins its season. Pottstown is also slated to begin its season, though the Trojans do not have an opponent announced on their website.
