MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan defensive tackle Kayden Weeks entered the 2025 high school season as a sophomore with a train of hype, mostly from his own coaching staff.
He backed it up. He made his coaches look like geniuses.
Weeks was the Rowan County Defensive Player of the Year and even in a league that includes some great athletes from Robinson, Weeks was voted South Piedmont Conference Player of the Year.
The time between the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Weeks’ sophomore and junior seasons was filled not only with accolades such as Honorable Mention All-State, but with Division I offers. At least eight, so far.
It’s the kind of widespread attention that can get in the head of a teenager, but Weeks appears determined to have an even better junior season. In West’s 33-18 win against North Rowan on opening night, Weeks had two sacks, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, three tackles for loss and eight total tackles.
That doesn’t sound like complacency.
“I’m still very hungry,” Weeks said. “I’ve got a passion for playing the game of football and there’s no chance that I’m going to rest on what I did last season. I know I’ve got to keep pushing and keep improving because my goal is to play college football.”
West’s defense was better than the scoreboard looked. Two of North’s three touchdowns came when the Cavaliers were on defense. North had one offensive touchdown. The Cavaliers rushed for 62 yards in 16 tries. They were 13-for-35 passing. North head coach Josh Sophia praised West’s defensive front and said they were hard to block.
“We stopped the run early, so they didn’t try to run the ball too much,” Weeks said. “I was double-teamed a lot, but that didn’t really faze me. It turned out to be a very pass-heavy game for them.”
As a 3-technique, Weeks normally lines up on the outside shoulder of a guard. His main job is to control a “B Gap” between a guard and tackle. He does that — and then some.
“He was a factor on every snap whether he impacted the stat sheet on a particular play or not,” West head coach Louis Kraft said. “He’s simply a force on a football field. It’s funny because if you met Kayden in the lunch room, you would never know he’s a football standout because he’s really a very humble guy. But when the lights come on, he’s there to take care of business.”
Kraft said Weeks is self-motivated. He doesn’t have to work very hard to fire him up.
“He plays with great effort,” Kraft said. “He has a very special gift of internal motivation. He can get himself ready.”
Weeks said his favorite plays from the North game included the forced fumble and also making a tackle about 40 yards downfield.
“That was on a screen to Dyaon (Norman-Jackson),” Weeks said. “I didn’t give up on the play and when he cut back, I was able to make the tackle.”
Scouts and college coaches like Weeks, who makes good grades, for a lot of reasons. Besides the size, he plays with leverage and he has an unusually high motor for an interior lineman. He plays with the energy of a 170-pound DB.
“Kayden is starting to etch his name in the all-time 11 for our program, and at West Rowan, that’s saying something,” Kraft said.
Davie is next for the Falcons.
