RAISING KANE

After letting his emotions get the best of him at times last year and affect his play, Toms River North senior linebacker Zach Kane has worked to become the total package of size, speed, maturity and ferocity for a team that has American Division title aspirations.

       When the wife of Toms River North head coach Chip LaBarca Jr. bumped into the mother of Toms River South sophomore quarterback Kyle Perry recently, the topic of discussion was Toms River North senior linebacker Zach Kane.
        This was on the heels of Toms River Northâ??s 49-3 win over Toms River South in the season opener, when Perry had to enter after the Mariners had knocked starting quarterback Kevin Gilmore out of the game with an injury. 
        â??His mother said that she had heard that Zach was this really aggressive, tough kid, but that he was so nice,â??â?? LaBarca said before smiling. â??The only thing was that when Zach helped pick Kyle up after knocking him down, Kyleâ??s feet were dangling in the air.â??â??  
        Hey, it’s a start. That gesture alone is an indicator of how much Kane has matured in the course of one season, after letting his roiling emotions get the best of him on several occasions last year, one of which resulted in an ejection from the Jackson game and others resulted in the Marinersâ?? coaches pulling him from the game. His motor is a coachâ??s dream, nonstop, but that can be a problem when it flows into post-whistle activities.
      â??That was pretty much stupid and immature,â??â?? Kane said about the extra-curricular activities that had some opponents and fans questioning him. â??I grew up since then. I knew what I was doing was wrong.â??â??
    

	Kaneâ??s ability is undeniable, and it had coaches from places like Rutgers, Temple, Penn State and some Big Ten schools calling LaBarca about him early last year. However, the films also did not lie when it came to some questionable plays after the whistle and some hot-headed behavior. That was when it really hit home to Kane that he had to change.      â??A lot of colleges came here and thatâ??s the only reason they didnâ??t give me a scholarship,â??â?? Kane said. â??They say they saw one too many things on the film that they didnâ??t really like. There were 100 things they did like, but there was one thing I had to fix, so thatâ??s what I fixed this year.â??â??
Toms River North senior linebacker Zach Kane (No. 34) has become a team leader.

       His coaches and teammates have noted that there has been a 180-degree turnaround with No. 34 this season. He still plays all out, but he has kept his head, and in cases like the collision with Perry, helped out opponents.
      â??Itâ??s like night and day,â??â?? LaBarca said. â??Heâ??s been a leader on the field and done everything we asked.â??â??
      Just the fact that he has admitted his mistakes is more than many teenagers can muster and shows how far he has come. If a college is looking for a player who can take criticism and improve from it rather than denying it or sulking, Kane is pretty much a prime example. It is also rumored that Kane is not the first teenager to make mistakes and become a better person because of it.
     â??Zach changed the way he plays football completely,â??â?? said Kaneâ??s good friend and fellow linebacker, senior Nick Foukarakis. â??Heâ??s still a big hitter and heâ??s got great speed, but heâ??s not out of control like he used to be. Iâ??m sure it was a big factor because he doesnâ??t want to ruin his future over something stupid he can control.â??â??
     THE FINE LINE
     Linebacker is a position where coaches routinely slot their most ferocious players and tell them to play like animals, yet that split second after the whistle blows is the fine line between being labeled respected or dirty. Itâ??s like telling a NASCAR racer to obey the speed limit on the local interstate, or telling someone in the armed forces who has just returned from a battlefield to keep his cool when some ***** in a bar challenges him to a fight. Youâ??re trained to do one thing, and then youâ??re supposed to just turn it off in an instant.
     â??That was the most difficult part,â??â?? Kane said. â??To play with my intensity, and they say, â??Stop,â?? and blow the whistle, itâ??s hard to stop when youâ??re running full speed.â??â??

â??If thereâ??s one word to describe Zach, itâ??s â??aggressive,â??â??â?? LaBarca said. â??He doesnâ??t care if theyâ??re a first-stringer, third-stringer, 6-foot-2, 5-8 – heâ??s coming at them. He plays every play 100 percent.â??â??       However, by telling an all-out hustle player like Kane to tone it down, you run the risk of hurting the way he plays the game. If he starts hesitating or pulling up, it wonâ??t be the same bulldozer of a linebacker out there.       â??Kane and I, we like to fly to ball,â??â?? Foukarakis said. â??As soon as the whistle blows, we just have to let up.â??â??       â??Heâ??s learned how to tone it down and play within the whistles,â??â?? LaBarca said.

Zach Kane and the Mariners look to be in the hunt for an American Division title.

     DEDICATION
     In addition to limiting his ferocity to the time in between the whistles, Kane ramped up his off-season training, becoming a regular at Velocity Sports Performance in Wall and studying film of college linebackers. He went from playing at 190 pounds last year to a solid 215 pounds this season on his 6-foot-3 frame.
     â??I did a lot of training on staying low,â??â?? he said. â??I studied a lot of college games and see those linebackers that stay so low. They ended how they started.â??â??
     Footwork, agility, endurance â?? Kane did not want there to be any holes in his game. With the Mariners returning nearly their entire defense and getting Toms River South transfer Anthony Penna to quarterback their offense, this is the year that Kane and Toms River North, which is ranked No. 5 in the DigitalSports Shore Conference Top 10, have something to prove.
     â??I definitely had to take it to the next level,â??â?? Kane said. â??Itâ??s the year to shine right now. If weâ??re going to prove something, itâ??s going to be this year.â??â??
     Kane also realized that his antics had to stop because he is a senior leader now, so anything he does, good or bad, will be noticed by the impressionable underclassmen.
     â??Iâ??ve got to be a role model this year, so I canâ??t do anything stupid,â??â?? he said.
      â??We want to give a good example for the rest of the kids, and Zach knows that,â??â?? Foukarakis said.
      Kane is determined not to let last year tarnish his career, and wants to let his play do the talking to silence any of the skeptics.
      â??The coaches call it poise,â??â?? he said. â??It was a problem last year, but this year itâ??s not a question.â??â??
      After ringing up a pair of sacks against the Indians in the opener, Kane will help lead a defense that faces its first big test of the season when the Mariners welcome Brick for a nondivisional game on Friday night.
      â??I donâ??t like reading the computer saying that all these people are picking us because then we go in there thinking weâ??re going to **** them, and we donâ??t come to play,â??â?? he said.
     â??Our goal is to completely try and shut out every team we come across,â??â?? Foukarakis said.
     MOVING FORWARD
      Clearly fueled by the mistakes of last year, Kane has now gotten closer and closer to being the complete package â?? size, speed, hustle and maturity.
      â??It really motivated him,â??â?? LaBarca said. â??Zach understood what he had to do to become a better football player.â??â??
       The hope is that when the Mariners collide with Toms River East on Thanksgiving,  a Shore Conference American Division title will be on the line.
       â??I think about that every day,â??â?? Kane said. â??Itâ??s a motivator.â??â??
      As for Kane, schools are already starting to notice the change, as LaBarca said that an ACC school recently called with renewed interest in him and would like to make a visit.
      â??If he continues to do what he has to do on the field and stays away from the extra stuff, I think his play will speak for itself,â??â?? LaBarca said. â??If thereâ??s a real good guy, they find scholarships for you.â??â??
      With the missing ingredient of maturity now added to an already potent mix, the sky is the limit for Kane. It also means that opponents may get a helping hand every now and then after he puts them flat on their back. While he can’t guarantee it to the opponents he helps up, it’s clear after a year of hard work that Kane’s feet are firmly on the ground.
 
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com