Irvine High receiver Kade Zimmerman wants to honor his late grandfather with a big finish

Kade Zimmerman runs for a big gain after a reception against Portola in 2019. (Photo courtesy Irvine High football)

Irvine High School’s standout wide receiver Kade Zimmerman feels blessed to get a chance to honor his grandfather for five more games to wrap up his prep career.

Zimmerman said his grandfather, former University High freshman football coach Gene Molway, was one of his biggest inspirations. Zimmerman will definitely be thinking of him Friday night when he takes the field with his Vaquero teammates in the season opener against Northwood at Irvine Stadium.

“He will be on my mind every snap,” the 6-3, 180-pound senior said.

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Molway died on May 5, 2017, after a battle with cancer. He was the beloved head freshman coach at University for more than 20 years and also had been an assistant coach on the varsity for former Trojans’ coach Mark Cunningham.

Zimmerman was hoping that his grandfather would be able to see him play high school football, but Molway died before Zimmerman’s freshman season at Irvine.

His impact was enormous, however.

“Ever since I was a kid, he would always bring me to his games and I would stand on the sidelines with the older guys and I would always look up to him and the players and it was always just an honor to be by his side,” Zimmerman said.

“I was really excited for him to be able to be a part of that with me at Irvine, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. But I know everything happens for a reason and he’s up there watching me right now.”

Molway made quite an impact with Zimmerman. He came to watch Zimmerman and his young brother Tate, a junior at Irvine, play flag football games when they were youngsters.

“More of what he taught me was actually character, he was always a big character guy,” Zimmerman said,. “I think it’s gone a long way creating the guy I am today. He’s always taught humility, he’s taught courage, he’s taught being a good athlete but also being a better human being and that’s going to take you farther than having all of the athleticism. He’s always taught me to be a good leader and have great character.

“Me and Tate have pretty much done everything together, even when we were kids, he would always play up so he could play on my team. He had the same affect on both of us. It was almost like he was our coach, even when he wasn’t our coach and us being around him made us better athletes, but just great people.”

Friday’s opener will be special in other ways too.

“This will be my last season playing with my brother,” Zimmerman said. “Just knowing our season has been cut short, but God has blessed us with five games, I’m going to take every snap like it’s one snap closer to my last, because it is and I want to take every snap like it’s going to be the best one yet.”

Zimmerman said he’s grateful to have a chance to play again in a season that was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think through the whole thing, I knew in the back of my head that this is going to happen and that California and our league was going to find a way to make it happen and they did and even with it being a little bit shorter and us being able to play our league, I’m so blessed and I’m so excited to and I just want to have one more ride with all the seniors and all my buddies and we’re really excited to do it together,” he said.

“The one main goal I have is just to win it, I want to win league and I want to hang a banner.”

Zimmerman is also hoping to attract the attention of college programs. Zimmerman said he has received one offer from NCAA DIvision 2 Black Hills State University in South Dakota. In 2019, Zimmerman earned first team All-Pacific Coast League honors along with quarterback Beck Moss, his neighbor and best friend. In 2019, Zimmerman led Division 11 in receiving yards with 1,049 yards on 79 receptions and broke three school records including yards in a season and receptions in a game, according to Coach Tom Ricci. On defense, he had one interception for a TD and 36 tackles.

“Kade is a fantastic individual,” said Coach Ricci. “He leads by example and, along with Beck Moss, is the heart and soul of the team. His work ethic is amazing. I know he’s caught thousands of balls from Beck over the last five years or so.  They are on the same page so much so that it is fun to watch them work. Kade is constantly trying to perfect his receiver work and works hard at every aspect of the game. I’m proud of him and can’t wait to watch what he does for the rest of the season and beyond.”

Zimmerman is also thinking about the future.

“I think every game right now I’m focusing on making highlights and putting it on Hudl and I’m going to put it in God’s hands and if the exposure comes, then it comes and if it doesn’t, then my plan is elsewhere,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said he’s grateful and considers after all that has happened: the long delay and the ups and downs in the off-season, it is “a miracle” to be playing one more season with his younger brother Tate, his neighborhood buddy Moss and other Vaquero teammates.

“I hope what’s going through the team’s mind is that we are so blessed to be in this position and so blessed to even be playing five games,” he said. “And I don’t want any of my teammates to take it for granted and I want them to understand that we could easily be sitting at home on Friday nights playing video games and watching basketball but God has blessed us with five games and he’s blessed us with this team and the coaches that we have and I think they should all be really excited that we have the opportunity to play.”

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com