Elmore County’s already dangerous offense looks to be even more explosive this season.
Cade Everson, an All-County player who starred for Tallassee last season, has transferred to Elmore County for his final high school season.
Everson plays a variety of roles on the offense, including receiver, running back and even some quarterback, and Panthers coach Kyle Caldwell is happy to have him this year.
“The kids have accepted him and he’s competing with our kids every day in the weight room and the practice field,” Caldwell said. “He’s making our guys better and our guys are making him better. It’s a great fit.”
Everson was hard to keep out of the end zone last year at Tallassee.
As a receiver, he recorded 13 catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns, which accounted for nearly 33% of Tallassee’s passing yards and half of the receiving touchdowns.
He did most of his work out of the backfield as he rushed 55 times for 463 yards and five more touchdowns. He added a special teams touchdown on a kickoff return and even notched 20 tackles as he played sparingly on defense.
As he suits up for the Panthers, Caldwell expects him to play the same hybrid role for his team.
“He’ll play some receiver and some running back,” Caldwell said. “He could even play quarterback but we don’t know yet since we still have a quarterback battle going on. He’s so versatile and he’s really smart. He’ll do whatever it takes.”
As excited as Caldwell is to see Everson on his roster, Everson is just as excited.
He believes the Panthers, who are coming off a 7-4 record and their first playoff trip in more than a decade, have the chance to make another run at it this year.
Elmore County returns nearly every offensive starter from a year ago, outside of All-County quarterback Payton Stephenson, and the defense returns plenty of star power as well such as linebacker Jackson Mann and defensive linemen Luke Reinert and Chris Holt.
“There are a lot of athletes over here who make a really good team when combined,” Everson said. “I like our quarterback situation and our coaching staff going into the year.”
In Elmore County’s first practice, Everson lined up at running back and outside receiver while Jabari Murphy, a three-star receiver with multiple SEC offers, was in the slot. Murphy had 55 catches for 793 yards and a county-high 10 touchdowns last year.
Everson will split time at running back with CJ Wilkes, who is the county’s leading rusher from a season ago. The dynamic back rushed 178 times for 1,303 yards and eight touchdowns, good for 7.3 yards per rush.
Everson believes Elmore County’s trio of skill players in addition to a veteran offensive line and role players could result in one of the best offenses in Class 5A this year.
“I think we can be really dangerous,” Everson said. “I don’t think many people will be able to stop us if all three of us are firing on all cylinders at the same time.”
