every play, maybe two,” Kane said.“ It’ s nice to know that in the back of my head that I have those guys and that I can trust them. They’ re going to ball out for us this season. It’ s probably going to be one of the best offenses Greenwood has ever seen. It’ s going to be exciting.”

Since winning the state championship in December, Kane has been ready to get back to work. Last year, Kane completed 73.6 percent of his passes for 2,393 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also ran for 653 yards and 16 touchdowns.

“ I’ ve been waiting since about mid-January when my birthday hit about a month-and-ahalf after the state championship,” Kane said.“ I like doing all the workouts and stuff, but at some point let’ s put the pads on and play a game.”

Kane’ s ability to run the ball is more of a second option now.

“ He’ s pretty honest with himself,” Hogan said.“ He’ s highly critical of his performance. He’ s spent a lot of time from last year to this year working on his pocket movement and his presence throwing the ball in the pocket. He’ s a strong player outside of it so when things break down he can go make plays. That can’ t be all he does. He’ s got to be able to manage the game from inside the pocket and use those weapons on the edge. He’ s done that. We’ ve seen in spring practice and we got to see him grow up in 7-on-7. He’ s done a great job of going through his progression. We’ re looking forward to seeing what the season holds.”

The Archer brothers grew up with the usual sibling rivalry especially since Kane, a junior, was better early than Cash, the older one.

“ They went through a small period where they fought a lot because they’ re brothers and so close in age,” their dad, Adam, said.“ They were awesome until they were 10 or 11. Then they went through that teenager stuff, but they’ ve come back around. Kane got pretty good early, and it pushed Cash a little bit. It’ s a natural brother rivalry, and, well, it was a good one. They broke some doors, and there was a little blood a few times.”

Cash was destined for defense, while Kane was destined for offense. They both tried the other side of the ball, but settled on the side they’ re at now.

“ When he was younger, he was 10 times better,” Cash said.“ I didn’ t start on a team until

the sixth grade. I was not good. I was thirdstring center. He was really good. He was young and cocky, but now we’ re best friends.”

Cash came into his own in junior high and took off from there.

“ Cash has always had a great frame on him and a great motor, but sometimes with kids like him that are longer it takes a little while to grow into their bodies,” Young said.“ In junior high, he was a good football player for us, especially in the ninth grade. His sophomore year, he had glimpses of making great plays even on Friday night on the varsity level, and then last year he was just dominant. Seeing his progression as he continues to grow into his body and the work he’ s put in and the results showing up on the field.”

Kane developed early and trained at a high level. He’ s developed physically over the past year due to a disciplined workout regimen.

“ This past offseason, I didn’ t play basketball,” Kane said.“ I tried to put on weight and look the part and feel the part and be strong. I went into the weight room and got up to 450 squat, I didn’ t max on bench and didn’ t max on power clean

because of my wrist. I told myself if I’ m going to play at the next level and play college football that I’ ve got to get bigger to sustain some of the hits. That was one of my priorities this year. Me and my dad talked about it that I had to get in the weight room, and I had to work so that’ s what I did.”

Kane was moved up to the varsity as a freshman. As a 13-year-old, he had scholarship offers from the University of Michigan and the University of Missouri while being rated the No. 1 quarterback in the country for his age.

“ He trains extremely hard not only with us but on the outside,” Young said.“ Those guys at the next level they’ ve got to put in a little bit of extra time, developing the body and putting time in on film work. With a guy like Kane, who played varsity as a ninth-grader even as a backup, that’ s why we moved him up because we knew he was going to be special. We wanted to give him that extra year of learning the offense not necessarily being the guy. You’ re now seeing the benefit of that. He’ s going to be a junior, but he’ s already playing like a senior.”

On the Cover Special thanks to Todd and Gracie Herman for letting the River Valley Democrat- Gazette visit with their English Bulldog, Gemma. Also special thanks to the Archer brothers and Greenwood football. Look for a gallery on the photo shoot at rivervalleydemocratgazette. com / photo. Photo by Hank Layton.

RVDG Exclusive videos available on the River Valley Democrat-Gazette digital replica app. Download today for Apple and Android.

River Valley Football Report

President Brent A. Powers

Editor Graham Thomas

Contributing Writers Leland Barclay Harold McIlvain II Kevin Taylor

Photos Hank Layton • Spencer Tirey

Videos Blake Sutton • Spencer Tirey

Video interview hosts Walter Woodie • Kevin Taylor Leland Barclay

Special thanks to the River Valley Fellowship of Christian Athletes for generously allowing the River Valley Democrat-Gazette to host River Valley Media Day on July 23 and July 30.