UD's Freshman PK

[89Hen]

UD breaking in new kicker (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050817/SPORTS07/508170324/1002)

The first scholarship freshman kicker at Delaware since 1998, Hobby made 77 of 80 extra points and 19 of 22 field-goal tries at Countryside High near Florida's Gulf Coast. He booted a 49-yard field goal from the hashmark to win a district title game.

Last summer, Hobby won the National Kicking Combine competition with a 71-yard average on kickoffs and by booming 50- and 55-yard field goals.

http://vh10018.v1.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?

[Tribe4SF]

No fair, 89! We're supposed to have the best kicker! :(

[89Hen]

No fair, 89! We're supposed to have the best kicker! :(
Never swung a leg at a college ball. We'll have to wait to see. :p

[Tribe4SF]

Never swung a leg at a college ball. We'll have to wait to see. :p

Sounds like a good one, though. If they spent a scholarship on him, he better be good. :cool:

[WMTribe90]

Sounds like a good one, though. If they spent a scholarship on him, he better be good.

Very true. I've never heard of a I-AA school bringing a kicker in on full ride. He looks great, but so much of kicking is mental and college is a whole other level of pressure. WM has been lucky with a string of four all-conference and/or all-american place kickers (not including Christi). To my knowledge, all were awarded scholarships after arriving on campus.

[TigerFan17]

Wow, looks to be good. Too bad our special teams are abismal. Non-scholly true freshman are very possible to start because our current staff is so bad. That killed us last year. Field position...extra points....field goals....it adds up.

[89Hen]

That killed us last year. Field position...

"Field position - that was the whole key to the game," said Towson head coach Gordy Combs. "We lost field position several times and that cut down the field size. We were never able to regain the field position."

:nod:

[Tribe4SF]

Very true. I've never heard of a I-AA school bringing a kicker in on full ride. He looks great, but so much of kicking is mental and college is a whole other level of pressure. WM has been lucky with a string of four all-conference and/or all-american place kickers (not including Christi). To my knowledge, all were awarded scholarships after arriving on campus.

The other issue making the jump to college is having to kick off the ground. Many kickers lose the height on their kicks without a tee.

[Baldy]

Never swung a leg at a college ball. We'll have to wait to see. :p

How true, no tee in college ball which makes a huge difference, HUGE.

We gave a full ride to a kicker last year. First kicker in GA high school history to kick two 50+ yarders in a single game. Some days he'll boom them from 50+ all day long, other days he's clankin' extra point attempts. Time will tell.

[blueballs]

How true, no tee in college ball which makes a huge difference, HUGE.

We gave a full ride to a kicker last year. First kicker in GA high school history to kick two 50+ yarders in a single game. Some days he'll boom them from 50+ all day long, other days he's clankin' extra point attempts. Time will tell.

Currently he is second on the depth chart to Jonathan Dudley, who was all conference last year and has a pretty strong leg himself.

As for the Clearwater kid, I don't know anything about him but Countryside has a strong soccer program so he may have come up through the soccer program.

[Ronbo]

We had a true freshman kicker last year that was highly touted out of Helena, Mt. He had an offer from Indiana but opted to stay in state when Montana offered him a full ride. He did OK on field goals (18-29) with some of the misses from 50-55 yards and a few from that hard hash mark angle when in close (he hit the goal post a few times). He was perfect on extra points (65-65). Now remember this is just a young 18 year old playing in front of 23,500 screaming fans. He will just get better and better the next 3 years.

[FightinBluHen51]

How true, no tee in college ball which makes a huge difference, HUGE.

We gave a full ride to a kicker last year. First kicker in GA high school history to kick two 50+ yarders in a single game. Some days he'll boom them from 50+ all day long, other days he's clankin' extra point attempts. Time will tell.


There's a tee in HS ball for field goals? That I did not know. I don't think they do that in maryland hs ball.

[TigerFan17]

There's a tee in HS ball for field goals? That I did not know. I don't think they do that in maryland hs ball.


I was thinkin the same thing, I never saw anyone use a tee other than for kick-offs... :confused:

[FightinBluHen51]

I was thinkin the same thing, I never saw anyone use a tee other than for kick-offs... :confused:



Unless they mean like a 1" tee vs. a 3" tee. :confused:

[Ronbo]

There is a small rubber tee that is about 1 inch thick and about 3"x3" square that is allowed on HS field goals. It gets the ball up out of the grass just enough to aid the kickers. It's easy to miss the holder putting it down and picking it up if you are not watching for it.

[sibiur]

Making that 1" to 2" transition is really make or break for most kickers. Those with strong legs sometimes still have the distance, but they suffer many more blocked kicks than before. Not only are they kicking higher up on the ball, but they also cannot see as much of the ball as when it was up on a tee.

Grambling also gave a full ride to a pk this year after he spent 2 seasons at the juco level.

[FightinBluHen51]

Is this through ALL school districts across the states? Granted, I haven't been to many HS games in recent memory, but....

[sibiur]

Not all hs kickers use the tee, but most do. Remember that colleges used that tee, too, until a few years ago.

[Baltimore Hen]

There's a tee in HS ball for field goals? That I did not know. I don't think they do that in maryland hs ball.

They did 14 years ago, but a lot can change. They were about 2" in 1991. THe goalposts are a lot narrower in the college game as well. I think by something like 5 feet or so.