Big Piney's Kaden Raza Chooses Black Hills State for Football

Big Piney two-way star Kaden Raza signed to play college football for the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets on Wednesday.

Raza played quarterback and defensive end for the Punchers. He was a two-time all-state and three-time all-conference selection in Class 2A.

The signing announcement from Black Hills State listed Raza at the defensive end position.

During the 2020 season, Raza led the Punchers to a 5-3 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the 2A West Conference. Big Piney just missed out on the playoffs after qualifying during Raza’s sophomore and junior seasons.

On offense at QB, Raza led Class 2A in passing at 188.2 yards per game. He threw for 1,506 yards and completed 57.1 percent of his passes. Raza finished with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also added five rushing TDs and even caught a TD pass. He led 2A in all-purpose yards at 199.6 yards per game. Raza had the top passing performance in 2A with 290 yards against Mountain View. His 324 all-purpose yards in that same game was also the top single-game performance by a player in 2A last fall.

On defense, Raza finished No. 4 in defensive points with an average of 22.2 per game and 178 total defensive points, in the 2020 season. He had 76 total tackles, with 14 tackles for loss and six sacks. Raza also recovered four fumbles and blocked one kick last fall.

Raza is one of 10 players that signed on Wednesday with Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets head coach is Josh Breske.