Mercer Island High School’s versatile junior Chase Kelly could be called a “Swiss Army knife” footballer as he displays solid offensive, defensive and returning skills each time the Islanders step onto the gridiron.

At wide receiver, Kelly had scored three touchdowns and accumulated more than 400 yards receiving at press time, along with snagging four interceptions and notching heaps of tackles at cornerback and returning kickoffs and punts for more than 200 yards.

“Chase Kelly has been a huge part of our success on all three sides of the ball,” said head coach Victor Gamboa, whose team was 2-3 in the KingCo Mountain Division and 3-5 overall at press time. “Chase is an extremely hard worker and his dedication to the game shows day in and day out. He is making strides to become a leader for our team.”

In his third year on varsity, Kelly said he’s having a blast playing three positions and the starter loves being on the field as much as possible.

“It’s all endurance. Our coach, after every practice, makes us run a ton and that’s what builds up my endurance. And then another thing our coach says, ‘Just practice how you play.’ So when I’m at practice, I try to give it a hundred percent. So when I go up on the field, it’s not as hard,” said Kelly, adding that he doesn’t get too tired during games.

Kelly entered the Islanders’ varsity orbit as a freshman kickoff and punt returner, added wide receiver to his resume as a sophomore and took on the cornerback position this season. He credits defensive backs coach Justin Stetson for bringing him into the defensive fold and teaching him how to succeed in the back row.

The key to making big plays on defense go like this for Kelly, who started playing football as a sixth-grader: “For me, it’s just our coach always says, ‘assignment alignment.’ And that’s what I try to think about. Just think about my alignment, and then the play will come to me.”

After coaches changed up the offense a few weeks into the season, Kelly started getting more passes thrown his way, he noted. He especially enjoys going up to catch a 50-50 ball and scoring touchdowns.

On the returning front, Kelly received vital advice from former Islander Charlie Chatalas: “He said, ‘Just try not to get in your head,’ because when you’re back there by yourself, it’s really nerve-wracking. He’d always say take a deep breath right before you get the ball.”

This year’s highlights for Kelly are watching sophomore running back Kainoa Brown score touchdowns and beating Renton, 51-25, on Oct. 10 in a game that featured senior defensive lineman Shaun Wurster scoring on a pick-six from 30 yards out.

“We were going in, they were talking a lot of smack over social media and all that. So we were going in with the mindset that we had to beat them. And that was definitely our highest scoring game,” Kelly said.

The Reporter asked Kelly a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his life:

What’s maybe the best piece of advice that you’ve been given from someone?

Well, my dad (Kyle) does always tell me that Kellys never quit. He always tells me that my whole life and that’s kind of been my motto and I think it’s helped me sticking things out.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

What bugs me is the sound of my alarm clock every morning.

What’s your most binge-worthy TV series that you’d recommend?

I have been watching right now “Prison Break.” I don’t know if you’ve seen that, but it’s very interesting. It’s a good plot and I think it’s really fast-paced and I like it a lot.

What’s a superpower you’d like to have?

Probably teleportation because I really don’t like airports, so I can just get place to place pretty fast.

What’s a dream vacation spot for you?

Going to Bora Bora, staying in one of the over water bungalows.

What’s a dream job for you in the future?

Maybe like being an entrepreneur, obviously, and then come up with a cool business concept and then own my own business, hopefully.

So if you’re having a tough day there at school, what’s a good way to break out of that?

For me, I always just talk to my friends. I’ll crack a few jokes and it’ll just make me forget about whatever that’s bad I’m having that day and just kind of think about something funny with my friends.