Kennedy's Heitland drops pounds, adapts to new position as a result

CEDAR RAPIDS - For some fortunate people, losing weight turns out to be rather easy.

Drew Heitland is one of those fortunate people.

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy tight end decided to get lighter so he could have an optimal senior football season. But once the pounds started coming off, they continued to come off.

Heitland will carry about 220 pounds into Kennedy's game Friday night at Cedar Rapids Prairie. That's down a whopping 55 pounds from a season ago.

"He's a lean, mean machine," said Kennedy quarterback Derek Jacobus.

"It was kind of everything," Heitland said, when asked why he decided to lose weight. "I'm in three sports, and I felt like if I lost, it would be better. (Teammate) Austin Holzer and I went in to Coach Cory and asked him 'What can we do for our senior year?' He said losing weight would be better, would help us get quicker feet. I was going to drop down to 245, but I got to there and just kind of kept dropping, I guess."

Coach Cory is offensive line coach Patrick Cory. That's ironic because Heitland's drastic weight loss has moved him up the line to tight end.

Keep in mind, this is a kid who has been Kennedy's starting center since he was a sophomore. He does have skill position experience from his middle-school days, when he actually played some quarterback.

"We had one tight end going to do a 7-on-7 (camp) this summer," Heitland said. "So I was just messing around with Coach, saying 'I'll go. I'll catch some passes.' I think I had all six of our touchdowns. So the next week, it was like 'Well, I guess we'll be moving you to tight end.'"

Heitland had one catch for 22 yards last week in a win against Cedar Rapids Washington. He presents a good target for Jacobus, not to mention a good blocker, obviously.

"I just like football, but it's always fun to go out for a pass. You get to be in the paper this way," Heitland said. "I still block a lot at tight end. At center, I felt I could lead the line a little bit. I knew where everyone was supposed to be. Now at tight end, I feel like I'm out on an island, just by myself. I have a lot more one-on-one blocks. At center, I got a lot of double-team blocks with the guards. It's a lot different blocking, I haven't gotten used to blocking in the open field, yet. But we'll see how it goes."

Heitland said it was a simple adjustment to his diet that helped him shed so many pounds. Head coach Tim Lewis is a health teacher at Kennedy and helped him come up with a plan.Fast food is out, as is bread.

"At times, I miss that stuff, he said. "But I've kind of gotten used to the way I'm eating now. It's not a big deal anymore."