Adam Kase planning to take Golden Bears – and opposing linemen – for a ride
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
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Adam Kase refers to it as down time – the months after he injured his knee early in Kutztown University’s 2021 football season and couldn’t play.
It was anything but that. Kase put that time to good use, working on his upper-body strength, turning himself into one of the strongest players on one of the best teams in the Pennsylvania Conference.
Golden Bears coach Jim Clements admiringly refers to the former Conrad Weiser all-league lineman as a “refrigerator with arms.”
Kase loves the nickhame; it has become his identity on the field.
“When I get off the ball and I’m on somebody, they’re going for a ride,” he says proudly as the Golden Bears prepare to kick off their season Saturday at Assumption at noon. “I’m taking ’em 5, 10 yards.”
Kase, who goes 6-4, bulked up to nearly 315 pounds early last season. He’s dropped about 20 pounds since; he feels faster now and can get off the ball quicker.
He’s still a load to handle up front.
“He’s dense,” said KU offensive line coach Pat Taylor. “He doesn’t get moved easily.”
That was case in high school, where he was a driving force on a Conrad Weiser team that upended Gov. Mifflin and won the Berks Football League Section 1 title in 2018.
He was a two-time Berks Offensive Lineman of the Year and an All-State pick as a senior in 2019.
Clements took one look at him at the Berks postseason awards banquet and was intrigued. Taylor, who recruited him, was even more so after meeting Kase.
“He checked all the boxes,” said Taylor, who was even more impressed after seeing how quickly Kase picked things up at the college level.
After seeing his freshman season, 2020, canceled by COVID-19, Kase made the starting lineup at tackle for the Golden Bears’ 2021 opener. He tore the ACL in his knee in Kutztown’s fifth game, ending his season.
Much as that hurt, he put the time to good use and came back stronger. Taylor, wanting to take advantage of Kase’s strength and ability to match up against defensive tackles, moved him to guard before last season.
“He played tackle more out of necessity (for us),” Taylor said. “I was intrigued to see what he would look like at guard, just because of his strength and his skill set.
“He’s one of the biggest, strongest guys that I’ve (ever) had here. Thinking of some of the defensive tackles we were going to be playing against, I thought Adam, with his strength, would be an advantage for us on the inside run game.”
“I loved it,” Kase said of the position switch. “Bigger guys are going to be slower, so I got on them. I was moving them, driving them off the ball. I felt good with my strength. That’s one thing I did get to work on with my knee being down – my upper-body strength shot through the roof. If I was handling people, they weren’t going anywhere.”
Kase, a fourth-year senior who plans to return for next season, wasn’t satisfied with the 2022 season — not with the way he performed or the way the team finished. For the first time since he joined the program the Golden Bears didn’t make the postseason.
“It was heartbreaking,” he said. “People say: ‘8-3, oh, that’s a pretty good season.’ We look at it like: ‘No, that’s terrible for us. Last season was not so great.”
Kase says he felt sluggish playing at over 310 pounds; he went at it hard in the offseason and will take the field Saturday in the low 290’s.
“Coming into this year, I’m letting that behind,” he said of the disappointments of 2022. “I just want to go hit people. From last year to this year, I’m head and shoulders over where I was.”
Taylor has big expectations for Kase; he told his right guard he expects him to land on the all-conference team.
“He’s ready to take that step,” Taylor said. “He’s seeing the game better than he ever has, which is a huge thing for the offensive line. He understands games more, he understands defenses better. No one really knows how good he . . . they’ll see it this year.”
Kase is determined to emerge as one of the best, and most recognizable, linemen in the PSAC.
“I want to try to make myself a name in the conference,” he said. “I want to be (known as) Adam Kase at Kutztown. (I want opponents to say): ‘This guy knows what he’s doing; he’s gonna put us down.’ ”