Double duty

RATHDRUM - One of the best high school placekickers and goalkeepers in the Northwest resides in a town with a population of 6,826.

Junior Cade Coffey of Lakeland High pulls double duty, both as a placekicker on the football team and as a standout goalie on the boys soccer team. He possesses a leg that has hit field goals in practice as far as 59 yards and as far as 45 yards in games.

The 16-year-old has been on unofficial visits to places such as the University of Washington and has received letters of interest as a placekicker from Louisiana State, Duke and Dartmouth - 30 schools overall.

There are several factors on which college the Hawks' athlete of Mormon faith will choose. They include which school has a better education program, which school has a better medical program and which would allow him to embark on a two-year LDS Church mission.

"I want to be a dentist," Coffey said. "So probably somewhere that has a good medical school like U-Dub (University of Washington) would be good, I've been looking at them and their facilities over the summer. They have really amazing (athletic) facilities, they've put a ton of money into the new facilities, their stadium and football center."

Coffey, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder who squats 350 pounds, was born in Moscow and also grew up in England for six years, until he was in fourth grade.

His father, Travis, works in sales for Transtector Systems, which took the family to England and then to Rathdrum. The family also got to travel to places like Austria and Portugal.

Cade Coffey grew up a Manchester United soccer fan and didn't know much about American football, until he moved to Rathdrum.

"I spent time in London, Milton Kings and Crawford," Coffey said. "It was really neat; I got to travel all around Europe."

From 1992-95, Coffey's father, Travis, played as a linebacker for the University of Idaho. He started at free safety as a senior in '95, after moving from defensive back to linebacker his junior year.

"I think he's very focused," Travis Coffey said of his son. "With kickers, you have to be able to handle pressure. His ability to prepare and focus is there. If he makes a mistake, he puts it in the past and forgets about it."

Travis was a standout running back and linebacker at Bonners Ferry. Cade's mother is Joann.

"They've helped a lot," Cade said of his parents' help in his development. "My dad and I are always kicking, going to kicking camps. He's always making videos, even when it's pouring down rain. Then he'll send them to colleges to help me get noticed."

Which school will allow him to play both football and soccer will also factor into his decision. Last year, Cade had a 3.0 grade-point average.

Last season at Lakeland, Cade kicked a 45-yard field goal that was the game-winner in a 17-14 nonleague win over nearby Post Falls. The ball cleared the crossbar by a few feet and broke a four-game losing streak to the Trojans.

"It was probably the greatest athletic experience I've ever had," Cade Coffey said. "It was tied, it was such a close game. It was a blessing."

So far this season, Coffey has struck for a 40-yard field goal in a 14-5 loss to Lewiston at home. He's also punted for a 43.5-yard average through the first two games, and has drilled five out of seven kickoffs out of the end zone, along with three extra-point kicks.

Coffey kicked two field goals last season and two more his freshman season and averaged 36 yards per punt his sophomore year. Last year, he sent 50 percent of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

On the soccer field, as of last Thursday, he had 41 saves and allowed 10 goals with one shutout. Last season, he had five shutouts and was scored on 23 times.

Along with all of his teammates, Coffey would love to be able to showcase his abilities in the state playoffs. Lakeland is 1-2 heading into Friday's home game vs. Deer Park.

"Our football team is definitely good enough to make it to the state playoffs," Coffey said. "Our soccer team has a good chance to make it to the state playoffs."

His holder is Kenny Cooper and his long snapper is Chase Harrison, both of whom Coffey said have been "... perfect every time."

Coffey has been in placekicking camps from Las Vegas to Sherman Oaks, near Los Angeles, to San Diego. He credits Cris Sailer's camp, located in Sherman Oaks, as the one that's helped him the most.

"They've pretty much helped me to where I am right now," Coffey said. "They've taught me how to kick. It's not all leg, it's about consistency and form."

In one of those offseason camps, Coffey said he was able to beat Austin Rehkow of Central Valley in placekicking, punting and kickoffs.

Rehkow, who is now a freshman kicker and punter at Idaho, kicked a 67-yard field goal on Oct. 29, 2012, setting a Washington state record.

"That was pretty cool," Coffey said. "It was before he kicked his 67-yard field goal. Once he kicked that I was like, 'Hey, I beat that guy in a competition.'"

Chad Beadell, Lake City's boys soccer coach and a former goalkeeper, and Gonzaga assistant men's soccer coach Vito Higgins have also helped develop Coffey's abilities as a goalie.

"They both trained me over the summer and over the winter," Coffey said. "They've helped me a lot."

Lakeland football coach Tim Kiefer has had a few weapons at the placekicker position, but few like Coffey.

"We've had some pretty good kickers here," said Kiefer, in his 11th season as Hawks coach. "He's definitely the best that we've had. Cade does a lot of kicking camps, he's ranked nationally. At the last camp he was at, which was kind of the best in the west, he was ranked third in his age group.

"In my opinion, his opportunities are going to come from his kicking abilities in football."

Kiefer has had to get used to having such a big weapon in the kicking game.

"It's been a bit of an adjustment for me," Kiefer said. "We'll be on the 30-yard line. I've got to train myself to be in those situations where that's actually field goal range for Cade - whereas in the past, I've never had that consideration (with other kickers). I've got to give him more opportunities. Most high school coaches don't have that luxury."

Kiefer, a Lakeland High grad, played against Cade's father, Travis, when both were in high school.

"He's got a good sense of humor," Kiefer said of Cade, who practices with the football team when he can - usually after soccer practice. "He's almost like those kinds of kids where you can kind of tease him and he takes it, rolls with it and comes back and teases you right back. A few kids kind of tease him about being a soccer player - he kind of laughs it off and keeps on going. They're not teasing him too much when he's kicking those game-winners."

Coffey is also a Boy Scout and has reached the First Class rank. He wants to try to earn the Eagle Scout award, the highest honor in The Boy Scouts of America.

As a freshman in 2011, Coffey helped the Hawks reach the state boys soccer tournament for the first time in school history, eventually winning the consolation title. Coffey made seven saves in a 4-3 win over Preston.

Last season, Coffey was named the goalkeeper of the year in the 4A Inland Empire League. But the Hawks were beaten at home by Sandpoint in the Region 1 title game and missed returning to state.

"When I came on at Lakeland, I was the JV coach," Lakeland boys soccer coach Andrew Craig said. "Even then, Cade was a very big deal to the program. He was the first guy in a long time that played keeper and wanted to play keeper. He lives and breathes it. He wants this team to be better. He wants the program to get stronger. He's definitely the stronghold for our program."

And just because Cade has a good leg, doesn't necessarily mean he'd be better served as a goal scorer, as opposed to preventing goals.

"Just having a good leg isn't able to make him a good forward," Craig said. "He's never been developed to be a field player. He's trained with some of the top local coaches around as a keeper. If I put him on the field, it wouldn't benefit us as much as having him as our keeper.

"Cade will be able to play college soccer at most universities, probably at some Division I programs. He's very skilled. He works a lot with college goalkeeping coaches. When it comes down to it, he has the potential to be a very good goalkeeper in college."

Craig is not overly concerned about seeing Coffey play both football and soccer.

"For me, Cade has always been playing football and soccer," Craig said. "He's never taken any direct hits. He's never out there putting himself in jeopardy. I've never been too concerned about it. I think it's great that he's a two-sport athlete; he's a fantastic kicker."

Fancy footwork

For highlights on Cade Coffey, log on to: http://www.ncsasports.org/football-recruiting/id/rathdrum/lakeland-high-school5/cade-coffey