[GetChili]

July 28, 2012

Skidmore named 3rd best in nation
Briar Jumper junior ranked nationally after participation in Schumann’s National Underclassmen Combine

By BRUCE W. SINGLETON, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset — Ask any gardener.

If you want to enjoy the best tomatoes, you have to raise them yourself, right in your back yard. Good taste becomes a tradition. You come to expect it.

Ask any football coach.

If you want the best football program year in and year out, you have to grow it right in your own community. Winning becomes a tradition. You come to expect it.

Ask any college recruiter.

If you want to find the best players in the nation, you go to the camps where the best of the best compete for attention. You don't wait for the high school coaches to send you films of their golden boys. You can see for yourself.

But to get to the top, those players have to develop a commitment to excellence. They have to go to the gym in the off season, They have to go to the elite camps and then they have to perform like their whole career was riding on it.

Ask Kagen Skidmore.

Skidmore, a 6’2”, 280-pound lineman for the Somerset High School Briar Jumper football team, has spent the whole summer at those camps — six in total — climbing the ladder, doing his job as a lineman, and playing the sport he loves.

The effort is paying off. Schumann's National Underclassmen Combine has named him number 3 lineman in the country. As a result, he will be watched this year and next by recruiting services like Rivals.com and ESPN as they sift through high school player stats like miners panning for gold. Every college football program in the country uses those services, at least in part.

That is tall cotton.

That is rare air.

That is just about as cool as it gets.

Somerset football coach Robbie Lucas agrees.

“Skidmore is a big strong lineman with a great amount of potential,” Lucas said. “He is a very physical blocker with a nasty streak in him. He is extremely athletic for such a big kid.”

“His work ethic is starting to meet and exceed his natural ability,” Lucas added. “He is a better person than he is a player and that is saying quite a bit. Kagen is just a junior and should continue to garner interest from many coaches.”

High praise and great accolades for the big guy.

But with kudos come responsibilities.

And pressure.

“This is great, but humbling,” Skidmore said. “I mean, I was even a bit reluctant to do this interview.”

“My main focus is the team,” he said. “I can't think of anything but the state championship. I’m hungry for it. I can’t be any more hungry.”

Skidmore has already seen one State Championship when Meece Middle won the title in 2009. But a State Championship for the Jumpers would be the first in the program's history.

Skidmore, will be in the spotlight and under the microscope for the fans and the opposing coaches this year. And with the national attention to Skidmore will come national attention to the team he plays for.

But that’s what happens when you grow a program like Somerset has. From the time the kids are 8 years old, their dream is to put on that purple and gold and maybe, just maybe, deliver that first state championship in the program’s history.

Is it doable this year?

Does Somerset have the combination of skill and discipline to take advantage of the lucky breaks when they come along?

Have Coach Robbie Lucas’ three seasons, three final fours, and one trip to the carpet prepared this team for the next level?

Stay tuned.

The harvest comes 15 games from now.

http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...-in-nation