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HERRIMAN — In the history of Mountain Ridge High, there may not have been a higher-rated recruit as Cade Uluave.
Hyperbole aside, the school that Uluave attends on the west end of the Salt Lake Valley is in its fourth year, and Uluave has played extensively in three of them as a two-way varsity football player. But the point still stands.
The 6-foot-1 California commit has the Sentinels (3-0) ranked in the top 10 in both the KSL.com Top 20+1 and the Deseret News coaches poll ahead of Friday night's Week 4 contest against 4A Sky View. And he's doing it in more ways than simply playing both running back and linebacker; he's also one of his team's top leaders.
"Me playing both sides, it puts me in a leadership position, for sure," Uluave said. "One week, our defense played solid and we wanted to build on that.
"For our team, we have to pick it up on offense. Being able to practice it and rep it all week helps to get energy, get the team going, and will help us out in the long run."
Since committing to Cal in June over offers that included Boise State, Duke, UCLA and Fresno State, among others, Uluave — a three-star recruit by 247Sports and the No. 8 overall recruit in the state of Utah — has been focused on doing what he does best.
No, not finding a hole behind his mammoth offensive line that includes offensive tackle Jr. Sia, the No. 9-ranked recruit in 247Sports' Class of 2023 from Utah, or dropping into coverage on one of his 4.1 tackles per game. He's just being a leader.
The senior has the frame to play running back at the next level, and with 1,583 career yards and 27 touchdowns, including three scores last week in a 51-33 win over Wasatch, he's got the tape to prove it, too.
But that kind of stuff doesn't matter to Uluave; only helping his team — his current one or his future one — to win.
"The thing with Cade is he'll do whatever you ask him to do," said Mountain Ridge coach Mike Meifu, the only head coach the Sentinels have known and is 15-19 in his fourth season, including an 0-11 mark in Year 1. "He's done everything on our team, from defensive end to offensive tackle to running back. He'll tell you he can play quarterback — last year, he threw a touchdown pass.
"He'll do anything you ask. He's a great teammate, and when you have your best player who is willing to sacrifice anything for the team, good things happen."
That includes at his next stop. Uluave admits it would be cool to run the football for Cal — and he updates his Hudl page every week with highlights just in case Cal coach Justin Wilcox is looking for a running back in the Class of 2023.
But if he doesn't call his name on offense, he'll be ready to do what he's committed to do.
"I mean, whatever gets me on the field, right?" he said. "Cal is able to watch my tape on Hudl, and if they want me on offense, I'm game.
"The offensive coordinator has joked with me, like, maybe you can run the ball sometimes. Right now it's just defense, but whatever I can do to get on the field, I'll do it."
So why Cal? Why not some place where the offensive staff wanted him to play as much or more than the defensive staff?
UCLA was hovering around his recruitment, as was Fresno State, Boise State and Utah State, for a chance to stay close to home. Another local school, Weber State, was among the first teams to offer him a scholarship, according to 247Sports.
But Uluave said the chance to play college football is about more than football; he also wants a degree from Berkeley.
"From the second Cal offered, I was interested. My family and I highly value education," he said. "Cal being one of the top academic schools was a really big bonus for me. But with the mixture of the academics and the players and coaches with the culture, there was no way I could say no.
"I'm really happy with the decision I made, and I'm really excited for the future and what's to come."
For Mountain Ridge, it's a blessing to have an offensive line that can shoulder the weight of two dominant running backs in Uluave and co-starter Semisi Kinikini, who has a team-high 374 yards and four touchdowns as a junior and 833 yards and eight scores for his career.
"Those guys are special," Meifu said. "When they break through, the stuff after the line is pretty cool. It's definitely a blessing to have two guys like that, to share the workload in games and in practices, and they both play both sides of the ball, too."
