'Madden stats': Eye-popping performances by Holmes powering Fremont Ross resurgence
Sep. 15—FREMONT — It was a calculated risk in 2019 when Fremont Ross head football coach Chad Long and his staff decided to start five freshman players, including a then 5-foot-9, 150-pound quarterback named Kaden Holmes.
That young Ross squad took lumps in struggling through a 1-9 season.
But, that all seems forgotten now as the Little Giants are reaping the rewards of their collective sacrifice.
Led by eye-popping performances by Holmes, Ross is off to a 4-0 start this season.
"My freshman year was to get me ready for my varsity career," Holmes said. "Last year, we got a new playbook, and we were working that in, and getting me ready again. This year I'm just looking to keep my body right, and get better. In the offseason, I worked on my running and throwing and staying in the pocket. I'm trying to focus and tune out the crowd. I'm just looking to see what they're doing on defense. If I know where they're going to be, I know where I should put the play."
To say Holmes — now more filled out at 5-11 and 175 pounds — has arrived would be old news.
That actually happened in 2020, when he was 192 of 329 passing for 2,575 yards and 33 touchdowns (12 interceptions), and rushed 127 times for another 707 yards and nine TDs.
This season, Holmes is on pace to surpass his 2020 numbers.
He is 63 of 108 passing for 1,050 yards and 15 touchdowns (2 INTs) through the air, and has carried 47 times for 353 yards and five TDs.
"Kaden can turn nothing into something, and do it at a crazy level," Fremont Ross receiver Bryson Hammer said. "He can distribute it, and his balls are always on point. He's great."
His resume includes passing for 300 yards, rushing for 133, and completing a two-point conversion pass with no time on the clock in the season opener against Tiffin Columbian, which made the Division III state semifinals last year. Last week against Clay, he passed for 274 yards and six touchdowns in one half.
"Sometimes you think somebody's got him, but he's running 20 yards down the field already," receiver Anthony Vann said. "You'll run a route and don't even think the ball's in the air, and the next thing you know the ball's coming right to you. He's just a play-maker."
Holmes' grasp of the offense is also a major plus.
"We have set up the offense around Kaden's abilities," Long said. "We spread it out and allow him to make decisions and choices depending on how the defense is playing. That made it really easy for Kaden. I think the success he had last year came, because he understood the offense, and at any time he can pull the ball and run it, or throw it."
Fremont Ross posted a 47-18 romp over rival Sandusky in Week 3 with its most famous former player, recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee Charles Woodson, in attendance. Holmes passed for 303 yards and four TDs and rushed for 124 and three scores in that one.
According to Long, Woodson said of Holmes: "That kid can play."
"He has followed him since last year when Kaden was throwing up silly numbers," Long said of Woodson. "He said Kaden could easily play at the next level, because of the way he can put his foot in the ground and move. He was really impressed."
Holmes, undersized for the college level, has yet to receive any scholarship offers, but has received interest from Cincinnati and Toledo.
Entering Friday's TRAC matchup against visiting St. Francis, Ross is one spot out of the top 10 in the Associated Press Division II state poll. This reflects progress for a Little Giants program that has not had a winning season since 2014.
The upward trend has Ross considering the possibilities for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
It won't be easy.
The Little Giants have not beaten perennial TRAC and state power Central Catholic since the Three Rivers Athletic Conference opened play in 2011 (0-9 record), and their last victory over the Irish came in a nonleague matchup in 2005.
Because of a coronavirus quarantine, the teams did not play their conference game last season. They are scheduled to meet at Ross in Week 9 on Oct. 15.
"I think the sky's the limit for this year," Vann said, "and next year we'll see what happens when we get there."
Other big matchups circled on the calendar for the Little Giants are Sept. 24 at Findlay, Oct. 1 at St. John's, and in Week 10 on Oct. 22 at Whitmer.
If Holmes continues to pile up numbers at a video game level, good things could happen.
"He is putting up Madden stats on many great programs so far," Long said, "and I see him continuing to do this throughout the entire year with his ability."
First Published September 15, 2021, 11:14am
