Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Warren JFK's Aidan Rossi breaks a tackle during the Eagles' win over Southern Local.

CANFIELD — Some teams have a “Mr. Do It All” that can slot anywhere in the lineup and do whatever a team needs.

Quarterback, running back, receiver, linebacker, safety, you name it, they can play it.

Kennedy has two.

Both Aidan Rossi and Caleb Hadley have seen significant time under center for the Eagles this season, and it continues to pay off.

In the words of coach Dom Prologo, the pair of Hadley and Rossi have been “thunder and lightning” for the Eagles.

“Aidan is a kid that can do everything for our program, and Caleb’s a grown man,” Prologo said. “Those two are a fantastic one-two punch. I guess we could call them ‘Lightning and Thunder.'”

The Thunder and Lightning connection of Hadley and Rossi tallied 59 yards passing between them, including a 36-yard reception by Rossi from Hadley.

Rossi put the first dent into the scoreboard on the defensive side, scooping up a mishandled punt and taking it to the house.

While the team’s “Blue Storm” defense worked its wonders Saturday, the offense did exactly what it needed to do, amassing 301 total yards throughout its regional semifinal victory.

Rossi mentioned that following Kennedy’s Week 3 win over Garfield, it was a goal for the Eagles to get more versatile.

The Eagles obviously have weapons; they just wanted to utilize them more.

One way to do that was getting both Hadley and Rossi more involved in the passing game.

“After that Garfield game, we realized we were going to have to get more versatile,” Rossi said. “We were going to have to find different weapons on the field. We worked every day in practice. We worked on our timing. We’re obviously a run-first team, but when we’re able to pass the ball successfully, that’s a good day.”

The versatility is paying off for the Eagles as they have just one blemish on their record, a 28-14 loss to still-undefeated Mogadore.

In addition to versatility, there’s been a constant drive to keep improving in all aspects that shows in how the team carries itself. They want to be dangerous to go up against.

“We just want to get better every day and every game,” Hadley said. These last stretch of games, we’re just trying to come together and really play hard, play physical, play with a lot more swagger and really be a threat to everybody.”

The added bonus of having two more than capable quarterbacks on the roster is that they’re able to complement each other and take advantage of each other’s skillsets.

“It’s very important,” Hadley said. “If one thing is not working one day, the ability to hop in with someone else and run that is really big and I think we’ve done pretty good.”

There’s an obvious chemistry with the pair as well. Getting to trade reps with your best friend has deepened their bond.

“We’re probably best friends off the field,” Rossi said. “We do everything together on the football field too. We’re both playing both ways, so it’s nice.”

Prologo and staff have made an effort to get as many players involved as possible.

“I think the coaching staff has a great plan every single week,” Rossi said. “We follow the game plan that includes versatility. We’re just going to stick to the game plan week in and week out and hopefully we get to state.”

With a trip to the state final four on the line, the next matchup for the Eagles is Danville.

It’s not going to be easy, it never is at this stage of the game, but if Kennedy sticks to what it does best, Rossi likes their chances.

“The keys are always to be physical up front. Our front seven has to dominate every game, our defense has to dominate in all aspects and special teams and offense, they have to carry their part too,” Rossi said. “It’s a three-way game and we need to win in all three aspects.”

The game against Danville is set for 7 p.m. at a site to be determined.

byauger@tribtoday.com