What a year it has been for Kade Eldridge. Last summer, the 6-foot-4 240-pound junior-to-be was getting ready to play his first full varsity season under long-time head coach Dan Kaemingk at Lynden Christian. Already locked in at defensive end, the offensive position was going to be the tough decision. The Lyncs didn’t use a tight end very often, but he could still be a valuable mismatch on the outside.
After dominating on the defensive side of the ball early on, it was an injury to senior running back Kayden Mellema that opened the door for the superbly athletic blonde-haired junior to step in. And he plowed through that door. Big run and big run, Eldridge was starting to get noticed. He helped lead his team to the state semifinals, while rushing for 709 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging a school-record 8.3 yards per carry.
His abilities became known extremely quickly, and major offers from division one schools began to pour in.
After narrowing his list down to five schools (Washington, USC, Oregon, Michigan and Washington State) a month ago, he chose the University of Southern California earlier today where he will play tight end.
He will become the first Whatcom County player since Monte Bianchi to play football for the Trojans. Bianchi graduated from Bellingham in 1951 and played at USC for two seasons before serving in the Korean War.
