Growing up and playing sports as a child, Jaden Hamm was looking for a sport that fit him.
“I played soccer as a kid, but I didn’t really like it,” Hamm said. “So, I was like, ‘I want to try something new.’”
Hamm started playing tackle football in second grade, but he and his family always thought he would end up playing college basketball someday.
But before he knew it, Hamm started to receive calls and offers from colleges recruiting him for his football skills during his sophomore year of high school.
“It was eye opening for me,” Hamm said. “I just wanted to seize the opportunity I had handed to me.”
Now, Hamm as well as seniors Eythen Moore, Kale Hammerschmidt, Jaiden Bender and Octavius Lyles have earned the opportunity to play football at the college level: a dream come true for many high school athletes.
Jaden Hamm, tight end
Hamm graduated high school after the fall semester and is now studying sports management at the University of Kansas. Hamm committed to play football at KU after originally committing to the University of Arkansas.
Hamm said the transition to college has been a little different, but he is handling it well.
“I definitely like it more being able to like leave and then come back, and just be like on your own pace,” he said. “But weight room and football wise, it’s just the intensity is higher … Just the intensity is 100% all the time, and we’re held to a higher standard than I ever had before.”
Hamm said he took an official campus visit to KU after his junior year when football head coach Lance Leipold was establishing himself at the school.
However, Hamm opted to go to Arkansas to play under tight ends coach Dowell Loggains, a longtime former NFL coach.
But after Loggains agreed to become the offensive coordinator at the University of South Carolina, Hamm thought twice about going to Arkansas.
“I started putting the statistics together and tight ends were rarely used in Arkansas’ offense,” Hamm said. “So the fact that tight ends have blown up so much here at KU, and I saw the opportunity that I still had out for me. I got a hold of coach Leipold and coach K (Andy Kotelnicki) and they told me my offer still stands and I was welcome to come back.”
Hamm said he came back for another visit to KU the weekend before Christmas. Seeing the changes Leipold has made in two years was enlightening.
As of now, Hamm said his role with the team is learning the playbook and meeting his weight goals.
“Until spring and early fall ball starts, I can’t necessarily prove myself in any way to up myself on the depth chart,” he said. “I’m hoping my skill level will continue to increase, and I am hoping that by learning the offense I can at least be in the rotation.”
Cardinal football head coach Drew Steffen said Hamm has the rare ability to do certain things on the field because of his athleticism and size.
Hamm, a 4-star recruit, made the 4A Football 1st Team All-State roster in 2021 and 2022 as a tight end, and as a defensive end in 2022.
However, Steffen said what impresses him most about Hamm is his commitment to playing football.
“He wanted to be on the field every single play,” Steffen said. “He played every snap on offense, every snap on defense. He didn’t want to be off, he wanted to be on every single special team. He was our long snapper. And so he just loved playing and he took it all in.”
Eythen Moore, offensive line
Senior Eythen Moore has been playing football ever since he was in kindergarten when he tried out for the flag football team with his friends.
He then started playing tackle football in second grade all the way through middle school.
“Middle school is when I really hit it hard, and I wanted to start in high school,” Moore said.
Moore was motivated to get his picture up on the all-state wall at the high school. After his senior season, Moore would earn 4A Football 1st Team All-State and his picture now hangs on the wall right outside the gymnasium at the high school.
“I always dreamt of being on the all-state wall and really tried my best to get on it,” Moore said. “And I did, thankfully.”
Moore has committed to the University of Saint Mary. Moore said his campus visit to the school really sold him on playing there.
“They just made sure that I knew they wanted me there, and not just you can be another player on our roster,” he said. “Then, all the history that’s there and all that just amazes me.”
Moore said he has also been in contact with the current center at University of Saint Mary and a Eudora alumnus, Chris Huslig, who helped him learn more about the university.
“He’s been just a super big help throughout,” Moore said about Huslig.
With Huslig playing in Moore’s main position at center, Moore said the coaches at University of Saint Mary want him to learn the entire line. Moore said he thinks that will make him a better player.
“If you know the whole line, you’re way more effective at center, which I learned up here,” Moore said. “I did that my junior year. They had me play the whole line. And I feel like that helped a lot in like, making me more effective at center because then I know where everyone’s at at all times.”
Steffen said what separates Moore from others is his ability to lead, an important skill for the center position. Moore was a team captain last season.
“We don’t have, you know, huge bodies out there, but we have kids that want to play nasty,” Steffen said. “And he led that group.”
Much like when he was in middle school and going into high school, Moore said his goal is to start his freshman year of college. Moore said he has been working out a lot to put on weight to keep up with the increased competition.
Moore plans to study secondary education at University of Saint Mary with the hopes of one day becoming a coach.
“I took teaching as a career this year and loved it,” Moore said. “So, that’s when I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to go into secondary education because I want to coach. That’s what I want to do is coach.’ So that starts off with teaching because teaching and coaching aren’t that different. So I plan on going to secondary education to teach physical education.”
Moore said he would love to come back to Eudora to coach someday and take over for his mentor Jason Tharp.
“I would love to like take over for Tharp because he’s been there for me for 12-plus years,” Moore said.
Kale Hammerschmidt, safety
Senior Kale Hammerschmidt grew up idolizing former NFL star Adrian Peterson and wore the number 28 when he first started playing football as a running back.
Hammerschmidt said his love for the game really took off around second grade.
When he got to middle school, Hammerschmidt made the transition from running back to quarterback and safety. Hammerschmidt started at safety for three years for the Cardinals.
“In high school, I really just fell in love with the safety position and kind of excelled at it,” Hammerschmidt said.
Hammerschmidt was an all-Frontier league safety his junior and senior years and was recently selected to play in the 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl game as well.
Hammerschmidt has committed to play at Washburn University. Hammerschmidt attended a football game at the school to help him in his decision process.
“I went on a game day visit earlier and they didn’t end up winning, but it’s still just they have a very good game day atmosphere,” Hammerschmidt said. “And talking to some of the players I know already on the team, they say they love it. So, that helped me want to go there.”
Hammerschmidt said there is nothing set regarding his role on the team, but he plans on being in the weight room and on the practice field a lot.
“Got to earn everything,” he said.
Steffen said Hammerschmidt was one of the best leaders on the team this past season.
“He’s a reason our defense is able to go,” Steffen said. “Early in the year, we really missed him. And we were asking guys to step up and be leaders and so when he came back, it just made a huge difference with how much our defense improved and how good we were against the pass throughout the year.”
Hammerschmidt said he is excited about meeting new people at Washburn while also staying close to home.
“I know Washburn has been recruiting a lot of people from around the country,” Hammerschmidt said. “They got a lot of Georgia kids, a lot Texas kids, a lot California kids. So, I’m excited to start getting to know them and see what it’s like.”
Hammerschmidt plans to dual major in business management and engineering.
Hammerschmidt will be joined at Washburn by his Cardinal teammate senior Jaiden Bender. Hammerschmidt said both of them are excited to continue playing together.
“I think we both wanted to end up at the same place and keep playing together,” Hammerschmidt said. “So, it’s cool we played four years together in high school. Hopefully, we get four more in college together.”
Jaiden Bender, edge rusher
Like Hammerschmidt, Bender also committed to play at Washburn.
Bender said he thinks the familiarity he and Hammerschmidt have will help them succeed at the next level.
“We grew up together on the same team, so that’s just really exciting being able to go through college football together,” Bender said. “I can always have Kale to fall back on in case I need anything. Me and him are super close.”
Bender earned all-Frontier league honors as well after last season as a pass rusher, but he actually started his football career as a wide receiver.
“I’ve been playing football since I want to say third grade,” Bender said. “I was a wide receiver and running back up until my junior year then transformed over to d-end. I’ve always been one of the bigger guys on our team. So, being a wide receiver back then, that helped a lot.”
Because Bender made the transition to defensive end not long ago, he is still learning the position in certain ways, but Steffen said that makes Bender a unique player.
“He’s somebody that I think is still raw,” Steffen said. “He’s so talented, he’s just so raw, just learning the game that, you know, he’s somebody that could get paid to play eventually just because of his athletic ability.”
Bender said his role with Washburn will be learning right away and packing on pounds in the weight room for now.
Bender said he is happy to stay close to his family, an important factor when making his decision.
Bender is also excited to start taking classes at Washburn. He said he plans to study sports management and to stay another year after he graduates to be a graduate assistant coach with the hopes of being a college recruiter some day.
Octavius Lyles, running back
While senior Octavius Lyles has not committed to a school yet, he has drawn interest from several schools.
Lyles has an offer from Peru State College in Nebraska, and has been visited by MidAmerica Nazarene University, Coffeyville Community College, Washburn University and Baker University.
Lyles said he had a good visit with the coaches at Peru State.
“I feel like if I were to go there, it’d be very easy to adjust and to be very comfortable,” Lyles said. “They looked at my film and told me that they thought highly of me. They have a whole new coaching staff, so they are trying to piece things together. They thought I’d be a really serious piece coming in as a freshman.”
Lyles also was a 4A Football 1st Team All-State player after last season.
Lyles said his main focus when deciding on a school will be on his education. Lyles plans to study business administration.
“I want to be a project manager one day,” he said. “And so having that business degree, I feel like having that business administration degree will open those doors for me to get my dream job and what I want to do in the world.”
Lyles said he is excited to face the challenges going to college presents.
“I’m looking forward to it just being a grind, it being a challenge everyday, waking up and having to face adversity,” Lyles said. “There’s going to be a lot of distractions, but I got to make sure I’m on my studies. I’m looking forward to this hard work, discipline and football.”
Even though he doesn’t know where he will be playing yet, Lyles said just having the opportunity to eventually play college football is a dream come true.
“Ever since I started playing football, I just knew like I’m supposed to be playing this sport,” Lyles said. “I mean, I get on the field and everything is silent. Like, the crowd’s there, but it’s not there. I get on the field, I feel like it’s home.”
The transition from high school to college football can be a major hill to overcome for a lot of players as the intensity and competition levels increase.
“Whether you’re walking on, getting a scholarship, you know, the expectation is that you are you. You’re doing everything you need to do to be the best for the team and to be successful,” Steffen said.
Steffen said, however, he thinks his players are ready for the challenge because of the people they are and how they have grown as young men.
Steffen said he is excited to support these players, as well as the entire senior class, as they go into the next part of their life.
“They all love football,” Steffen said. “We talked about that a lot. And so for them to continue to get their education and play is a great opportunity. I’m just extremely blessed to get to coach those kids.”
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
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