Sterling’s multi-sport athlete Kaedon Phillips set for bigger role

Sterling multi-sport athlete Kaedon Phillips is ready to step up his senior year.

That starts this fall on the football field.

A point guard for the basketball team and a sectional high jump champion in track and field, Phillips produced on both sides of the ball last year in just his first season of high school football.

As a 5-foot-10 slot receiver, he had more than 400 yards receiving and was involved in the ground game. He was an All-Western Big 6 Conference second-team selection as a corner.

Coach Jon Schlemmer said the Golden Warriors will have a young team this season. Simply getting the ball in Phillips’ hands will be a priority.

“He’s a very talented kid,” Schlemmer said. “He’s a really good route runner, blocks really well in space. Trying to find a way to get him the ball is going to be important for us.”

That may take some creativity as other coaches game plan for Phillips.

“His ball skills, the way he does certain things, he wants to compete. … We were pretty excited as a staff when he decided to come out for football.”

Phillips said there are some new plays offensively this year. He’s looking forward to being one of the team’s top offensive weapons.

“It’s challenging,” he said, “but I’ve got to step up and prove a point this year.”

Phillips is prepared for more responsibilities this season.

“We lost a couple seniors last year,” he said, “so this year, as a senior, I’ve got to help the younger guys, show them what to do and just take a leadership role.”

Phillips played his role as a junior and learned from last year’s senior leaders Lucas Austin and Andre Klaver.

He tries to encourage the younger players and help them in the weight room.

“Also just being a vocal leader on the field during practices,” he said.

Phillips takes pride in being a multi-sport athlete. His athletic ability and help from coaches made the transition back into football a smooth one. He previously played junior tackle football.

“I feel like my athleticism is just a natural talent,” Phillips said. “And extra work helps me compete with other teams and other athletes.”

His older sister, Denajha, graduated from Sterling in 2015 and did track and basketball.

Kaedon ran on Sterling’s 4x100 and 4x200 relays and took first in the sectional high jump last season with a personal record leap of 6 feet, 2.75 inches.

He’s been talking to college coaches in both basketball and football and has visits planned for both.

“I just want to get to the next level of playing college sports,” he said. “A lot of colleges like multi-sport athletes.”

Sterling football reached the Class 5A playoffs last season at 4-5 and drilled undefeated and top-seeded Chicago Payton 50-0 as a No. 16 seed. Sterling fell 49-8 to St. Francis in the second round.

“Last year we barely snuck in, but we never stopped fighting,” Phillips said. “We had to show them what we were about.”

Now it’s up to Phillips and company to make their own mark.

“I love to push people to their absolute max,” he said. “The coaches always tell me, ‘you’ve got to be a leader,’ and that’s what I want to do this year.”