PIKE ROAD -- At first glance, you might not think of LaCedric Foster and Kaleb Foster as brothers.
The two Pike Road seniors are not similar in build, which is why Ced, the stockier of the two, is a middle linebacker, while Kaleb, the leaner of the two, is a receiver for the Patriots. They’re a little different in temperament as well.
“They’re polar opposites,” senior Malik Blocton laughed. “They go at each other every day in football. It’s so funny, watching them on the field. When (Kaleb) is running crossing routes, Ced is trying to take his head off.”
They’re both vital to the success of the Patriots, which begin a three-game home stand to close out the regular season with a region matchup on Friday with Stanhope Elmore. Pike Road can wrap up home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a win over the Mustangs, but likely will need contributions from both brothers to help secure the win.
Which one is more valuable? It really depends on which one you ask.
“He talks a lot of trash but I don’t really pay attention to it,” Ced said. “I always tell him, ‘Bruh, you ain’t ready for what I bring to the table.’ We’re very competitive. I think our dad put that into us when we were young. But, yeah, we have heated conversations every now and then. Well, not every now and then, like almost every day.”
“He talks more trash,” Kaleb said. “He talks a lot of trash, actually. I know it’s coming so I just try and zone it out.”
Both are high-profile seniors that underclassmen look up to. Ced played a lot of snaps as a sophomore before sitting out last season with a knee injury.
“He is a dynamic leader for us on that side of the ball,” Pike Road coach Granger Shook said. “He was a starter on a state championship team.”
He has 28 tackles, including one for loss, for the Patriots this season.
“I wish I could have played with him last year,” Kaleb said. “But I’m glad he’s out here now. He’s a great leader on the defensive side of the ball. The guys love him. He’s passionate about everything he does.”
Ced’s passion for the game is evident as he discusses the dual obstacle of having to shake off a season of rust and being away from the game for a year while learning a new defensive scheme.
“It’s been great to get back out here and play with my team, especially in my last year,” he said. “There’s some guys that were out here (two years ago) on the state championship team and we talk about it all the time. ‘We’re the last ones.’ It’s really been a blessing to get back on the field, especially with my brother. I’m not taking it for granted. I’m going to enjoy every moment, soak it up.”
Kaleb was the starting quarterback last season in then-coach Ed Rigby’s offense, but was moved to receiver by Shook in the spring as an experiment that continues to see the senior play both positions.
“We still have some packages where he is our quarterback, but he is our starting ‘X’ receiver and it’s been good in stretching the field with his speed, his length and his range,” Shook said. “He is a living, walking servant leader for us. He has taken (the position switch) in stride and grown tremendously from it. He is, unequivocally, the leader for us on offense. He’s going to play football at the next level. I think showing these recruiters he can do both (quarterback and receiver) will be paramount for his growth and ability to play at the next level.”
Foster has only carried the ball three times at quarterback this season (for 9 yards and a touchdown), but he leads the team with 28 receptions, gaining 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“He’s always played a little bit of everything growing up, although it’s mainly been quarterback,” Ced said. “I think him going to receiver just shows that he can do a little bit of everything.”
The change in offense from a single wing attack last year to a spread offense this year has helped Kaleb with the mental move from being the leader at quarterback to a receiver.
“I’m a great team player, so whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to be in line for it,” Kaleb said. “Whatever Coach asks me to do, I’m going to get the job done. Being in the spread is very comfortable. You’re spreading the defense out wide, they doesn’t know what’s coming. Then we have a running back like Mike (Jones), we get to pound the ball. That opens up the passing game for receivers like Jordan King and myself, Drew Britton and Mason Hussey and all the other guys.”
Ced, the older brother by a few months, was born in 2005 and spent many of his early years in Union Springs. He went to Bullock County High until coach Willie Spears was fired after the 2019 season, then said he researched schools on social media and decided to attend Pike Road.
Kaleb, born a few months later in 2006, originally lived in the Bullock County community of Midway but attended Johnnie Carr Middle School in Montgomery in the fifth and sixth grades before arriving at Pike Road.
Together, they share a fierce competitive spirit that has helped the Patriots put together a five-game winning streak.
“They definitely chirp at each other,” Shook said.
“We’ve been doing that our whole life,” Ced noted. “I’m always on him, heavy. But he does it to me, too.”
“I get the best of him,” Kaleb countered. “I know how to get in his skin.”
After every game, Ced said, the competitive brothers defer to a higher authority when deciding which player had the bigger impact.
“Whatever our dad says,” Ced said. “He has no filter. He’s going to tell us what it’s really like. If he feels like I was tackling soft or arm tackling, he’s going to tell me. He’ll tell us who played the better game. He’s not going to sugarcoat it for us.”
