BOISE - Three years ago, Cody McCarthy accomplished a feat that no one else in Bishop Kelly's illustrious football history has ever done--he started every game at the varsity level as a freshman linebacker. He also led the team in tackles that season-as a 13-year-old-and has done the same each year since.

Once a linebacking wunderkind and now as a sage senior, McCarthy is a rare breed of athlete that coaches dream of.

"I came in, 13 years old, looking at all the seniors, thinking, 'What the heck am I going to do when I'm a senior?' These past two years have flown by and I have been fortunate to play and receive a lot of accolades," says the four-year starter.

In the middle of the final act of a high school football career already laden with achievement, he's looking to do as much as he can before heading to college, including playing fullback on offense.

"I'm looking back on it now thinking that I really enjoyed the ride and now that we're seniors, just trying not to miss anything."

McCarthy captains a stingy Knights' defense that hasn't missed much at all. At 4-0 (2-0, SIC) and in a tie for first in SIC 4A with this week's opponent Skyview, the Knights are arguably the favorites to land about the only thing that has evaded McCarthy--a state championship.

As last year's SIC Defensive Player of the Year looks back on his last few seasons of football, he does so without losing focus on the present by focusing on each day as it comes, and according to Knights head coach Lee Leslie, leading by example.

"He is the toughest kid in Idaho and stays humble about it," Leslie says. "His work ethic is incredible, and he's the type of guy that would be more loyal than your golden retriever at supper time."

McCarthy only knows one way to play football: "I play fast. I'm always thinking, always able to react, and I play very passionately." He attributes this to the help and coaching of his father, who played linebacker in college.

With collegiate offers from Army, Idaho State, and Washington State, the voracious middle linebacker is eager to play at the next level, but uses his experience to stay in the moment. His plan for the rest of the year is to "take it game-by-game, don't rush things, and don't get ahead of ourselves. Use every day in practice to the full extent, enjoy everything, and don't blink."

"I've been doing this for four years now and I've seen seniors at the end of the season that think, 'What have I done?' when they are sitting in the locker room. ...They won't take off their pads because they know it's the last time they will ever put them on."

When McCarthy removes his shoulder pads for the last time as a Knight, his contributions to the school's program will be well documented--and if he has his way, highlighted with a 4A state crown.