Henritzy a special K-Kid
Northampton’s record-setting running back learned about hard work from parents
Caden Henritzy grew up in a sports-oriented family.
His mother, the former Kristy Gestl, was a standout softball player at Northampton High School, where she helped the Konkrete Kids win the PIAA 3A state title in 1996 and became an all-league and all-region player at Kutztown University.
She was recently inducted into the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame and is now the Konkrete Kids softball coach.
His father, Chad Henritzy, was a standout on the offensive line at Northern Lehigh and multiyear starter at Kutztown and is a member of the Northampton coaching staff.
“From a young age, sports was a big part of our family,” Caden Henritzy said. “It’s all I pretty much remember.
“[My parents] taught me all about hard work, accepting your role, earning your spot. They were great role models.”
Now Caden Henritzy can be considered a role model as well as a record-breaker. After setting Northampton football’s single-season rushing record last season, he is now the school’s career rushing leader as well after gaining 162 yards on 12 carries and scoring two touchdowns in last Friday’s 48-0 win over East Stroudsburg South.
Henritzy has 2,768 rushing yards with at least six more games scheduled this season. He broke the record set by 2020 graduate Tyrese Brandon, who is currently on the roster at East Stroudsburg University and who attended the game to see Henrizy make history.
“I was a ball boy here while I was in middle school in seventh and eighth [grade], and I got see Tyrese a lot,” Henritzy said. “I always looked up to him, and after my sophomore year he told me I was going to break his record.
“So it was great for me to see him here the night I broke his record.”
What’s amazing about the record is that Northampton has been playing football for a long time. Morning Call records show the first K-Kids season as 1924.
Even more amazing is that Henritzy set the mark despite rarely playing full games. Northampton has dominated the EPC North throughout Henritzy’s career, and often the wins have come by lopsided margins that have sent him to the sideline for large portions of the second half.
Henritzy doesn’t mind not having more yards. He is a humble, appreciative player who puts team success ahead of any
personal accolades.
“He’s a very humble kid, a hardworker, and the young kids look up to him,” Konkrete Kids coach John Toman said. “This is my third year here, and he has been my tailback all three years.
“I never have to worry about what he’s doing or how he’s doing it. He is always being a good role model for the other kids, on and off the field.”
Toman said Henritzy has never complained about coming out of games early or having to share carries.
“This year he’s sharing reps with Billy Stuhldreher ... but Caden understands it’s best for the team and his longevity,” Toman said. “We need him to be healthy in the playoffs, so Billy is taking away some carries. Last week both of them had 12. But that doesn’t bother him at all.”
Because Henritzy is such a team player, the entire team embraced his rushing record.
“This was something I couldn’t have done by myself,” Henritzy said. “Without all of the linemen and everyone who has blocked for me over these years, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
“Caden has been one of my best friends my whole life and I’ve been playing football with him my whole life,” said Colby Reph, who was a second-team all-league
lineman on both sides of the ball for the K-Kids last season.
“He has become the best running back the school has ever had, but he has always emphasized that he has the record because of us. He makes us feel great about ourselves.
“I made a post about him on Twitter, and he retweeted and said this record is our record and this is because of us. He’s a great kid, a hardworking, dedicated kid who just loves football.”
Jake Biery, another senior lineman who plays on both sides of the ball for Northampton, feels the same way about Henritzy.
“He has been so supportive of us this whole time and gives us as much credit as he gets,” Biery said. “He’s a great teammate and
he has made us feel great about his accomplishment.
“When he set the record, we all just felt great for him. We’re just glad to be a part of this journey.”
The praise from Toman and teammates is not surprising considering the traits of unselfishness and humility that were instilled at an early age.
“From my mom, I learned about dedication and commitment,” Henritzy said. “And not just football, but everything in school and in life. She always talks about what hard work gets you. My mom is also about the community pride and the tradition.
“From Dad, I’ve learned the importance of remaining calm and being humble about everything. I’ve learned from Dad to be grateful for others, especially my offensive line because he was a lineman himself.”
Henritzy, listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, also is a hard-hitting linebacker, and his one Division 1 offer from Maine is to play defense.
But before his college decision is made, Henritzy is focused on the second half of the Northampton season. The Konkrete Kids are 4-1 and have won four straight since an overtime loss to Allentown Central Catholic in Week 1.
Northampton has not lost an EPC North game since Henritzy has been on the varsity, but he and all of the K-Kids want to take it a step further after losses in the District 11 6A semifinals each of the past two years.
“We’re definitely pushing,” he said. “Right now we have a couple of guys who aren’t healthy and we need to get them healthy again and then I think we can keep going.”
Toman has coached a lot of outstanding players in his career and still talks about Asher Smith, his star running back at Southern Lehigh in 2019, as being the best running back he has coached.
“But I put Caden right up there with the Edmond kids I coached at quarterback at Southern Lehigh and Mike Sisselberge,r who went on to a great career in lacrosse at Lehigh,” Toman said. “He’s in the top 10 percent of the kids I’ve coached, and the bottom line is he’s so humble and does whatever you need him to do to help the team. He’s just a great kid.”