Cade Berryman takes his skills to a new level; in running for National Player of the Week at KSU
It didn’t take long for Cade Berryman to move from the hills of Estill County and into the national spotlight.
Two games into his collegiate career, the Kentucky State University freshman has been named Special Teams Player of the Week in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), and is one of four football Division 2 nominees for National Player of the Week.
Least surprised by the rapid rise to stardom are Estill High fans who watched him perform over the last four years, and his new coach, Wayne Dickens.
“Watching him in high school, we knew he had tremendous potential and could have a great career here,” says Dickens.
In large part due to Berryman’s kicking skills, the Frankfort-based school is off to a 2-0 start.
Playing his first game against Central State in the Seventh Annual Dayton Classic, Berryman admits to “having a bad case of the nerves.”
But he managed to put that nervous energy to good use, connecting on field goals of 27 and 31 yards. He also had eight kickoffs for 429 yards, an average of 53.6 yards per kick.
The final tally was 39-21.
In his home debut on Saturday, Berryman was even more impressive.
He nailed three field goals from 26, 43 and 39 yards, connected on four extra points and had nine kickoffs for 450 yards, an average of 50 yards per kick.
He finished the game with 13 points as the Thorobreds defeated the Lions of Lincoln (Pennsylvania) University 43-27.
The son of Sam Berryman and Teresa Muncie Berryman, secretary at Estill Middle School for the past 10 years, Cade was reared on a 100-acre farm on Sang Branch in the Red Lick area.
He has three older siblings, Cody, Chelsea and Casey.
Cody, who Cade calls his role model, was a standout baseball performer for the Engineers, earning a scholarship to Alice Lloyd College.
Casey played softball for Georgetown College.
An outstanding athlete in football, baseball and basketball, Cade received offers from several colleges in football and baseball, but none in basketball.
However, his greatest memory in sports came last basketball season in the six-overtime thriller with Bourbon County. He scored 40 points, staying on the court for the entire game.
Also special was helping the baseball Engineers win back-to-back regional championships his freshman and sophomore years.
He credits one of the Estill football assistants, Russ Swim, with aiding his kicking game.
“I began kicking as a freshman because we didn’t have a kicker and I was the only one who had played soccer,” he says, recalling he made good on his first PAT in a varsity game.
At Kentucky State, he is rooming with another outstanding Estill athlete, Kenton Roberts.
According to Cade, Roberts is sitting out this season due to having “suffered too many concussions.”
Following his college career, Cade, who is majoring in history education, has plans to become a teacher, perhaps somewhere close to home.
Meanwhile, he is considering playing baseball for KSU next spring.
“It depends on if I kick good or not,” he says.
Looks like he may as well be getting his cleats ready to take the field.