During his career as the city's biggest tailback, Elder's Kyle Koester has taken verbal jabs along with the physical hits.

        “I've been called fat and slow,” Koester said.

        But you have to think that when Koester gets a pitch 5 yards behind the line and heads toward the Colerain defense Friday night, the Cardinals will be more concerned about how big and fast he is.

Kyle Koester ran 39 times for 233 yards and two touchdowns in Elder's 21-14 win vs. Fairfield Saturday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Koester, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound senior, is powerful enough to run over tacklers, but he is also fast enough to run by people.

        “He's not a burner,” Elder coach Doug Ramsey said. “But look at that 53-yard touchdown run he had against Fairfield. No one could catch him.”

        Koester has broken every career rushing record at Elder except one: yards per carry. This year, he ran for 1,885 yards and 17 touchdowns on 308 carries.

        He is the big reason the Panthers are in the Division I regional final game against Colerain Friday at Nippert Stadium.

        Koester's size does get people's attention. He is 45 pounds heavier than his fullback. He outweighs three of the five Elder offensive linemen. But Ramsey never considered playing him anywhere but running back.

        “His sophomore year, a lot of people said we were going to have to move him to linebacker,” Ramsey said. “But he's just too good with the ball in his hands to do that.” Koester has impressive athletic credentials. He runs the 40 in 4.75 seconds. The last time his body fat was tested, it was 11 percent. He plays center field on the baseball team. And he's an all-city punter.

        Football always has been Koes ter's sport. He has played since he was in kindergarten, playing with first- and second-graders.

        Koester scored his first TD that year. But he briefly had doubts about the game.

        “I told my dad (Willie) after practice that next year I might play soccer,” he said. “I must have gotten hit by a second-grader ... but it never happened. I never played soccer in my life.”

        Between his freshman and sophomore years in high school, Koester bulked up to 230 pounds. He got his chance that year when the two players in front of him were injured. He played tailback until they recovered, then went to fullback.

        “The coaches told me not to forget about tailback,” he said.

        The tailback job was his in his junior year.

        Koester ran 252 times for 1,501 yards and 15 TDs as a junior. He spent last summer working on his speed and agility.

        Koester does juke, and he will run by people, but it's his power that sets him apart from other high school backs.

        “He's gotten real good lately with being physical,” Ramsey said. “After kids tackle him five, six, seven times, it gets harder. You see him knocking them down and landing on top of them. They get tired of it. He gets better in the fourth quarter.”

        Koester is so effective that Ramsey has revamped the Elder offense. The Panthers used to throw as much as any team in town. Now, when Koester gets rolling, the game plan follows him.

        “We go with the flow,” Ramsey said. “But you have to take advantage of what he does.”

        Koester is being recruited by Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Boston College and Cincinnati, as well as most of the Mid-American Conference schools.

        College could mean the end of his tailback days.

        “It depends on where,” he said. “Some of them have said I'll get a chance at tailback.”

        So far, a chance is all the big man has needed.
       

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