Carter Casey enjoyed countless long drives well before he became a successful quarterback with Saskatoon’s St. Joseph Guardians.
Some of his favourite football-related recollections are of travelling to and from Regina with his proud grandparents — long-time Saskatchewan Roughriders season-ticket holders George and Sharon Baran — for CFL games.
“It’s great, knowing that I can just fall asleep in the car or chat with them the whole time,” Casey says. “On the late nights driving home after a 7 o’clock Rider game, it’s nice to be able to relax at 2 a.m. and not worry about doing the driving by myself.
“It feels great to do that with family that is really close to me. It brought our relationship even closer.”
Another familial relationship — that of father-son — also fostered a love of football for Casey. His dad, Brent, starred at defensive back for the Holy Cross Crusaders in the mid-1990s.
“I fell in love with the game as soon as he brought me into the sport,” Carter Casey says. “I was just enjoying it at a young age, even before tackle, while playing flag football.
“It was just super-exciting that you could be around so many guys who enjoyed it, too. It made it so much easier for you to enjoy it, because you were around a bunch of friends.”
Casey’s mom, Jacine, grew up playing softball and soccer. She remains involved in the latter sport at the co-ed level.
Olivia Casey, Carter’s sister, has emulated her mother by embracing soccer. Olivia is in Grade 10 at St. Joseph.
Carter was in Grade 6 when he was introduced to tackle football as a pee wee player in Saskatoon’s minor football organization — the Kinsmen Football League.
“When I first started playing tackle, I wanted to be a linebacker, but within three practices I was moved to quarterback,” he recalls.
“Just throwing the ball around in practice, I think the coaches saw that. They walked up to me and asked if I wanted to switch sides of the ball and play on offence.
“Being quarterback, I can’t complain about any of that. It’s pretty great.”
Especially when you consider Casey’s lifelong appreciation for prominent passers.
“I always loved the quarterbacks,” he continues. “Peyton Manning was one of the guys that I watched growing up, because he has the same birthday as me (March 24), so he always had some interest to me as well.
“It would have been cool to play like him or like Joe Montana, because I’m a big 49ers fan, so quarterback was always a cool position.”
Casey quarterbacked the KFL Titans for three years before enrolling at St. Joseph High School.
However, what would have been his Grade 9 year of football was wiped out by COVID-19.
In Grade 10, he played for St. Joseph’s junior team before being called up to the senior squad. As a newcomer to the high school ranks, he was primarily a punter, although he did receive a few snaps at quarterback.
Then came a breakout Grade 11 season — one in which Casey started behind centre in addition to handling all the punting and placekicking.
St. Joseph capped an undefeated season in the Saskatoon ranks by registering a 17-10 victory over Holy Cross — Brent Casey’s alma mater — in the 2022 6A city final.
In the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 6A championship game, played at Leibel Field in Regina, the Miller Marauders defeated St. Joseph 34-20.
The nucleus of the 2022 Guardians — a team that showcased Casey and numerous other talented Grade 11s — has returned for 2023.
“It’s exciting to know that we can work as a team again this year toward the same goal we had last year,” Casey says.
In 2022, Casey completed 62 of 99 passes for 1,110 yards, with 18 touchdowns and only two interceptions. With 61 points, he was the Saskatoon league’s third-leading scorer.
He followed up during the 2023 regular season by going 74-for-108 for 1,116 yards, with 13 TDs — one of which was a 93-yard connection with Tyrell Mohr — and two picks. As well, Casey rushed 30 times for 239 yards and four TDs.
Next on the agenda for the Guardians is a Thursday semi-final against the Centennial Chargers (5:15 p.m.). Holy Cross and the Walter Murray Marauders follow at 7:30 p.m. Both semi-finals are to be played at SMF Field.
The Regina Intercollegiate Football League’s 6A (Schwann Conference) semi-finals are set for Friday at Mosaic Stadium, where games are scheduled for 5:15 p.m. (Miller vs. Campbell Tartans) and 7:30 p.m. (LeBoldus Golden Suns vs. Riffel Royals).
The Regina and Saskatoon 6A finals will both be played Nov. 3.
The two cities’ 6A kingpins will then meet Nov. 11 in Saskatoon with provincial laurels at stake.
Throughout the SHSAA, teams are preparing for provincial quarter-finals. The schedule is as follows:
1A SIX-ASIDE
Saturday: Hanley at Hafford; Cupar at St. Brieux; Plenty at Lemberg; Kerrobert at Carrot River; games at 1 p.m.
2A SIX-ASIDE
Friday: Kamsack at Clavet, 7:15 p.m.
Saturday: Unity at Wakaw; Watrous at Wynyard; Shellbrook at Rosetown; games at 1 p.m.
4A NINE-ASIDE
Saturday: Delisle at Melfort, 1 p.m.; Shaunavon at Indian Head, 1 p.m.; Esterhazy at Lumsden, 1 p.m.; Tisdale at Humboldt, 3 p.m.
5A 12-ASIDE
Thursday: Greenall vs. Johnson, 6 p.m., Mosaic Stadium (Regina 5A/Stewart Conference final).
Friday: Aden Bowman vs. Bishop Mahoney, 6:30 p.m., SMF Field (Saskatoon 5A final).
Saturday: Weyburn vs. Moose Jaw Central, 1 p.m., Darold Kot Field (South Rural Football League final); North Battleford vs. Prince Albert St. Mary, 2 p.m., North Battleford Comprehensive (Northern Saskatchewan Football League final).
