From the court to the endzone, Mack Kistler can do it all
MASSILLON, Ohio — Playing multiple sports in high school is nothing new, and it’s been done for decades. Playing a crucial role in multiple sports in high school is a different story, but that’s exactly what Jackson’s Mack Kistler is doing. Before this year, Kistler hadn’t played football since the sixth grade. He’s now a senior and says he wants to have fun and make the most of his final year of high school.
“I always regretted quitting,” Kistler said. “I told myself it’s my senior year, I might as well come out and play for fun.”
That’s just what Kistler has done through the first three games of his young football career. The Jackson Polar Bears are 3-0, and Mack Kistler has been a big part of their run so far.
As a role player for Jackson’s basketball team, Kistler averaged 4.2 points per game and shot over 50% from the field and 40% from the three-point range. All of this for a Jackson team that went 23-4 during the 2020 campaign. As a football player, he’s making even bigger waves through his first three games on the gridiron.
In week one, Kistler caught his first career touchdown pass for the Polar Bears, a 23-yard strike against Akron East. Since then, Kistler has reigned in three more touchdown passes, each one of them going for 25-plus yards. After just three games at wide receiver, Kistler has established himself as a matchup nightmare and a deep-ball threat.
Overall in his young career, Kistler has caught seven passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Although he thought about playing safety at the start of the year, Jackson head coach Tim Budd had other plans. Jackson lost nearly all of its receiving production from a year ago, and Kistler’s 6’3 size was simply too good to pass up on. Tim Budd has nothing but praises to sing about Kistler so far.
“He’s a guy that really committed to what we’re about,” Budd said. “He got himself in the weight room. He diligently studies routes. He’s always meeting with our receivers coach, trying to get better.”
At 6’3 and possessing a quickness learned on the basketball court, Mack Kistler is too big for cornerbacks and safeties and too fast for linebackers. Jackson is a team that prides itself on running the ball, and having a receiving threat like Kistler helps keep defenses honest with their strategies.
At the end of the day, Mack Kistler is a team player and will do whatever it takes for his team to win. Whether that means catching three touchdown passes or simply being a decoy so that others can shine, Kistler doesn’t care. The Polar Bears are undefeated in 2021, and Mack Kistler has played no small part in their domination thus far.
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