Santaluces Chiefs cornerback Caden Gordon is a star in the making.
The junior, who has offers from West Virginia, Pitt, and Western Michigan, is a big part of Santaluces’ sturdy defense.
Gordon has 14 solo tackles on the season along with two tackles for a loss, one interception, and seven passes deflected.
Against Spanish River Thursday night, the Santaluces secondary had their toughest test of the season against a high-flying offense.
“I did not do the best. You have good days and bad days… it is how you come back from it. As a team, the offense was awesome. Us defensive backs need some work. The defensive line was also awesome.”
Gordon was guarding Spanish River wide receiver Blake Wallace all of Thursday night so he deserves some slack. Wallace leads all of Palm Beach County in both receiving yards and touchdowns. Wallace finished with three touchdowns; he now has 17 total touchdowns on the season. But the Chiefs won 52-34.
Gordon had a season-high three passes deflected while guarding Wallace.
“He is a good player. He is athletic. He got speed.”
Gordon knows he can build from here.
“I can focus on being a leader. In practice, when college coaches come and see us practicing, they need to see me being a leader… being a dog.”
He hopes his success this season can lead to more recruiting opportunities.
When asked about the recruiting process, Gordon said that “it’s really been good, having Coach Hector put my face out there for coaches to see me has been really great and all I can do from that point is just show out and ball.”
Coastal Carolina is one of those teams that shows Gordon a ton of love week in and week out.
“It is really great. They (college coaches) are showing love for real. It is really easy. Hector (Clavijo) helps me out with communication. I am about to go on visits soon.”
Santaluces is certainly not known for having many recruits, but this season is a different story. A lot of the credit has to be given to head coach Hector Clavijo, who is arguably one of the best coaches in all of South Florida.
Santaluces receivers Anatay Smith and Jamar Browder both have six offers each.
At 6-2, the Chiefs are expected to make the playoffs, and they are arguably a top 10 team in Palm Beach County.
“We really got to focus one game at a time,” Gordon said. “We got Park Vista next so we can make the playoffs. It does not matter what our playoff chances look like, everyday we need to focus on getting better… focusing on one play at a time and fixing mistakes. As a player, I need to start being more of a leader.”
In addition to wanting to making it far in the playoffs, Gordon shared one of his goals:
“To be honest I was thinking about this recently and my goal is to really be the first to commit to a top power five school before my senior season and from what I know, that hasn’t happened in the last five years and it could be longer.”
Standing at 6-1, Gordon’s arms stretch too his knees. His speed allows him to keep up with the best of the best when it comes to opposing wide receivers. Most importantly, his knowledge of the game helps Santaluces week in, week out.
The Chiefs have two games left: Park Vista and Atlantic. Atlantic is not just the toughest team Santaluces will play all season, but it is a must-win game.
Boca High beat Santaluces last week to win the district championship so Santaluces did not receive an automatic bid to the playoffs. Now, Santaluces needs to rely on the FHSAA ranking system to get a playoff spot.
The FHSAA rankings are determined by a formula that involves a team’s winning percentage, a team’s opponent winning percentage, and the opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage. Strength of schedule is a huge factor.
