New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Winning Wildcat
Seymour QB Drezek seeking return to playoffs
SEYMOUR — He had a good arm when he was a lefty pitcher as a young kid. So when he got to the point in his football life where the players moved from yanking flags to wearing pads, the old running back switched places in the backfield.
Now Caden Drezek has one offer to play football in college and hopes to have a few more in a few weeks. After helping Seymour to the CIAC Class S playoffs last year, the senior, one of the state’s top returning quarterbacks, would like to do it again, though he knows he and his team have work to do.
“He’s earned everything that’s coming to him. He does everything the right way,” Seymour coach Mike Kearns said. “I expect nothing but big things from him, wherever he ends up. He’s going to be one heck of a football player. He’s going to be one heck of whatever his career may be.
“I’m really excited what he can do. He’s got an amazing future.”
Drezek announced an offer from Maine earlier this month, his first from Division I.
“I’ve got a lot of schools waiting to see my first couple of games, and after that they’ll make a decision,” Drezek said; the Wildcats open Sept. 8 at St. Paul and visit Naugatuck a week later before their home opener against Holy Cross.
“It’s stressful. I didn’t get my first offer until a couple of weeks ago,” he added. “I didn’t know if I was going to get one after I’ve put in all this work.”
QBHitList.com ranks the 6foot-3, 220-pound Drezek 88th in the nation among senior prostyle quarterbacks. (No. 1: Texas commit Arch Manning, whose grandfather and uncles were, you know, all right.)
Drezek said his focus has been on accuracy.
“Before, I used to just chuck the ball as hard as could, try to throw it through someone,” Drezek said. Now, “it’s just getting the ball in the right places at the right time.”
He plans to study finance, and above all, he just wants a chance to play. In the meantime, while he doesn’t play baseball anymore, he’s also a basketball standout for the Wildcats.
Drezek shared a lot of sports love with his father, Craig, who, like mom Jamie, played basketball at Post University. Craig was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame 20 years ago.
“We always watched sports. We have a whole room just full of sports stuff,” Caden said.
On June 3, 2020, Craig died at just 49, stricken with COVID-19. He left Jamie, their four daughters, and Caden, the fourth of five.
“It really showed us that we could lose anyone at any time”