Plainfield East’s Jayden Cawthon ready to take it to the next level

Jayden Cawthon wasn’t supposed to spend any time as the No. 1 receiver his freshman year at Plainfield East. When star receiver Quinn Morris went down with a knee injury early in the season, however, the responsibility fell on his young shoulders.

He handled the added pressure well.

Cawthon wasn’t supposed to step back into that role again until next year after Morris graduated. When Morris transferred to Naperville North this summer, however, the plan changed again.

That’s a lot of pressure for a young receiver, but for the second consecutive year, Cawthon is taking it in stride.

“There’s no pressure at all,” he said. “I just go out and play the best that I can. If I can play the best that I can, we should have a successful season.”

Cawthon excelled as a freshman, hauling in 28 catches for 522 yards. Those marks were good enough to earn him honorable mention on the Herald-News All-Area Football Team. It also set the bench mark for what he believes he can continue to strive for.

Coach Harvey Jackson still remembers telling Cawthon last year that he’d be stepping into the No. 1 spot. When he told Cawthon the same thing this year, there was a noticeable difference in how he reacted.

“His eyeballs didn’t get as big when I told him,” Jackson said with a laugh. “This is a blessing in disguise for him, because he is very talented, and he no longer has to wait his turn since his turn is now. He’s the face of the [team], and he’s the future.

“This changing of the guard kind of started before Quinn transferred. I asked him to do a lot of things in the offseason, and he’s done it all while excelling.”

Jackson says Cawthon is benching 200 pounds while squatting and deadlifting 350. For a kid who just started his sophomore year, that’s pretty remarkable.

“He’s doing everything I’m asking him to do,” Jackson said. “He’s doing that because I see Division I talent in him.”

Cawthon said he’s already had conversations with a few schools in the Mid-American Conference, including Miami (Ohio) and Kent State. He still has three full years of high school to get through before any of that, however. For now, he’s just trying to grow on the field.

“I’m just trying to get my timing right with my quarterbacks,” the 5-foot-11, 170-pound receiver said. “I’m focused on speed training this summer, because the speed of the game was my main thing I was getting used to last year.”

Jackson added that Cawthon began last season as a rather quiet presence in the locker room and in the huddle. That’s to be expected for a 14-year old kid. Jackson adding that he’s begun to step up more into a vocal leadership role, saying he’s very mature for his age. Jackson credits Cawthon’s parental involvement for helping him come along in that area.

“I think if we can continue to bring him along, he’ll keep growing,” Jackson said. “If we can put as much on his plate without overdoing it, he can be one of the most dynamic receivers in the state of Illinois. Right now, he’s probably the best receiver in his class.”

At the time the Herald-News talked to Jackson earlier this month, Plainfield East still was in the process of determining who their QB would be. Jackson said, however, that anyone who can throw the ball into Cawthon’s area can rest assured he’ll likely come down with it. Cawthon is already hauling in the 50/50 balls, and Jackson believes those 70/30 balls will start coming down in his hands soon, too.

As for the team as a whole, the Bengals will be looking to carry over the positive momentum of the second half of last season. After an 0-4 start, Plainfield East closed the season out by going 4-1 in their final five games with their lone loss coming to Joliet West by a score of 17-15. The goal now is to continue to improve.

For what it’s worth, Cawthon believes the Bengals will do just that.

“The expectation is to all play together,” Cawthon said. “If we can play all together, we should go pretty far and make a playoff run.”