All of the above: Minooka’s Zane Caves adds starting quarterback to list of athletic achievements

Zane Caves, a rising junior at Minooka, already has made a name for himself as a starting basketball player.

He’s also hoping to garner enough baseball recognition to make it to college one day. Now he’s adding one more talent to his arsenal: starting quarterback for the football team.

Moving from sophomore football to varsity is no easy task, especially adding the pressure of being the starter at the most important position on the field. Caves has dedicated himself to balancing his time as well as he can to ensure that he grows as a passer while improving in his other sports.

“For basketball and football, the coaches have talked to me and we’ve worked the schedule out,” Caves said. “Sometimes I’ll have to miss a week of football to go and do basketball. With baseball, I’ll have to equal things out with tournaments on the weekend. So it’s a process to even everything out.”

Don’t get it twisted, splitting his time hasn’t lessened his dedication. It’s that dedication that football coach Matt Harding first pointed out.

“During the school year he has his workload, but during summer practice sometimes he beats me to the parking lot,” Harding said with a laugh. “I show up an hour early to school and Zane’s sometimes sitting in his car in the parking lot waiting for the door to open. He’s always chomping at the bit to learn and be the best that he can be.”

In baseball, Caves is a pitcher who throws in the high 80s. That’s the sport he’s hoping carries him to the next level, although he’s open to any sport. In basketball, he’s a dominant forward capable of scoring 20 points in a single game. In football, we’ll have to see what kind of player he grows into, but one thing remains consistent through all three sports: “He’s just a fierce competitor,” Harding said. “That’s what separates him from other people that I’ve been around.

“He just wants to compete at an extremely high level, and that requires him dedicating time to all his sports, not just football, which he does.”

Caves acknowledged it hasn’t been easy growing into the new role. The workload, conditioning and time spent in the film room have taken a massive jump from last year. Harding also noted that Caves will need real game time and playing experience to grow comfortable and learn about time management. But with his strong arm and willingness to be coached, the talent is there for Caves to be special.

“We went to Naperville North for 7-on-7, and there’s a heck of a lot of good teams out there,” Harding said. “In between he’s on the ground right next to our offensive coordinator going through the playlist. ... The guy is completely bought into the program.”

Both Harding and Caves said the goal is for Minooka to take each game as it comes. There was no projecting or looking ahead. Still, after going 8-3 last season and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, there will be high expectations. It’s the standard Minooka has set over the years, and it won’t be lowered just because there’s someone new under center.

“Our goal is to be 1-0 every Friday night,” Harding said. “We try not to look ahead here. I’m very excited to see what he can do. We’re trying to open it up and put him in both the run and pass game. I think it’s going to be an exciting year for all of us.”

As for Caves, he knows there will be a lot of eyes on him. He’s OK with that. He’s following Harding’s lead and taking it day by day.

“I think a big part of our team right now is perseverance,” Caves said. “We just take everything day by day and game by game. We’re just going to take that approach each day and see where it takes us.