Rising Star: Senior midfielder Caleb Day looking to lead Derby soccer to new heights

DERBY, Kan. (KWCH) - After a quarterfinal loss last season, Derby soccer is back this year with a chip on its shoulder.

“Our biggest thing is team chemistry,” Derby Head Coach Paul Burke said. “We have a great group of guys and they all get a long.”

The Panthers are off to a 8-1-1 start and are ranked in the top ten in a deep 6A class.

“With a young group we have a lot of talent and I figured if we worked hard we could have a good season,” senior midfielder Caleb Day said.

Day returned as the Panthers leading scorer from last season, leading the team with seven goals on the season through eight games this year.

“We knew we needed a goal scorer this year and a constant threat, someone the other team had to take account for,” Burke said. “We thought he could do it, it was more or less just convincing him and getting him in the right spot and then just letting him be him.”

His 16 points on the season rank in the top 20 in the state in all classes.

“We have seen a drastic change from when Caleb came in, he was a super talented player but  it was more of that growing up and learning from the older kids before him,” Burke said. “He took the good, bad and ugly from them and molded it into his own type of person.”

Before continuing his career at the NAIA level at Benedictine, Day will look to help lead the Panthers to a state title appearance.

“That would be an amazing feeling to be honest,” Day said.

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