Georgia kicker named Prokicker.com Player of Year
By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
ATLANTA, Ga. – Harrison Butker is a special teams dream player.
The junior kicker from Atlanta, who had a season to remember for Westminster, Ga., has been selected as the National High School Player of the Year by Ray Guy Prokicker.com. Butker was the first-team kicker and third-team punter on the inaugural list of Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-Americans that was released earlier this week.
Butker, who is 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds, was first-team All-State in Class AA after making 16 of 17 field goals, a success rate of 94.1 percent. He also made his last dozen field goals to help Westminster to the second round of the playoffs. Butker also excelled in kickoffs and punting to round out a spectacular junior season.
Nine of his 16 field goals were from 41 yards or more and he made 20 of 22 extra points (one miss was the result of a bad hold). He drilled 47 touchbacks on 59 kickoffs and averaged 39.5 yards on 33 punts. Four of Butker’s punts were more than 50 yards with six downed inside the opponent’s 20. He averaged 67.3 yards per kickoff with a 3.87 hang time.
Former Arizona Cardinal kicker Cedric Oglesby of Prokicker.com’s staff watched Butker kick and punt at a Prokicker.com camp in Atlanta and came away impressed.
“I think he ended up with the best kickoffs of all the summertime (camps),” he said. “His hangtime and distance were great. He just seems like he’s a pretty athletic kid.”
Butker is also a humble kid. He praises teammates and coaches for his outstanding performance.
“A lot of credit to the long-snappers and holders and my kicking coach (Joe Sturniolo),” Butker said. “In a game if you have a bad snap or a bad hold, you’re probably going to miss the kick. We practiced field goals a lot because, luckily, I played for a head coach (Gerry Romberg) who liked to kick field goals.”
Butker didn’t kick field goals as a sophomore but went to a Prokicker.com camp in Atlanta and found he could do it.
“That camp jump-started me and got my eyes open toward kicking,” he said.
Butker’s only miss came from 59 yards out in a game at the Georgia Dome. “It would have probably been good from 54 or 55 (yards),” he said. “It was the fourth kick of the year and made me three for four.”
Butker wouldn’t miss again. He was eight-for-eight from 40 to 49 yards and also hit a 51-yard attempt.
Butker isn’t just a kicker or football player. He’s an athlete who stars in three sports at Westminster – soccer, football and basketball – and also excels in the classroom. He carries an A average while receiving honors in several Advanced Placement courses.
“Westminster is a great school where academics are a big thing,” he said. “It’s hard with three sports trying to keep up with schoolwork but I’ve been managing. Education is first.”
His parents, Harrison and Elizabeth, were both former soccer players so he naturally leaned in that direction when he was younger. Butker has been a defense starter in soccer since he was a freshman and he used to play club soccer but now focuses more time on football where he hopes to be a kicker in college after he graduates.
Oglesby said Butker is built more like a punter because of his length.
“With the length of his leg he could be a good punter as well,” he said. “punter is something you mature into a lot of times. He can be an outstanding punter if he puts some time in this summer.”
Butker’s season didn’t go unrecognized by the media. He was voted first-team kicker in Class AA over Alabama commit Adam Griffith, causing raised eyebrows throughout the state of Georgia.
“Adam Griffith (of Calhoun, Ga.) is No. 1 on Scout.com, I beat him out,” Butker said. “Adam said I had the better season. He wasn’t too angry about it.”
Butker played in the Georgia Junior Bowl where he punted well and had a kickoff that carried seven yards deep into the end zone – and they kicked off from the 35-yard line. However, because of commitments to basketball practice and games, he missed most of the practice sessions that week.
Butker is dedicated to whatever is in front of him. He’s also thankful for coaching help from Sturniolo and Romberg.
“He’s very passionate about kicking,” Butker said of Sturniolo. “He helped me all last summer and all through the year. A lot of schools don’t have anybody to lean on but I have him. The reason why I got to be where I am is because of him. Coach Romberg is a head coach who is very willing to kick field goals. I appreciate his faith in me.”
Butker offered by Georgia Tech
ATLANTA - Harrison Butker, who earlier this month was named the first Ray Guy Prokicker.com National Player of the Year, has been offered by Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.
Butker, a junior who made 16 of 17 field goals for Westminster, Ga., said he was offered by Georgia Tech on Friday, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
The junior kicker from Atlanta, who is 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds, was first-team All-State in Class AA after making 16 of 17 field goals, a success rate of 94.1 percent. He also made his last dozen field goals to help Westminster to the second round of the playoffs. Butker also excelled in kickoffs and punting to round out a spectacular junior season.
Nine of his 16 field goals were from 41 yards or more and he made 20 of 22 extra points (one miss was the result of a bad hold). He drilled 47 touchbacks on 59 kickoffs and averaged 39.5 yards on 33 punts. Four of Butker’s punts were more than 50 yards with six downed inside the opponent’s 20. He averaged 67.3 yards per kickoff with a 3.87 hang time.
GA. KICKER RAY GUY PROKICKER.COM PLAYER OF YEAR
By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
ATLANTA, Ga. – Harrison Butker is a special teams dream player.
The junior kicker from Atlanta, who had a season to remember for Westminster, Ga., has been selected as the National High School Player of the Year by Ray Guy Prokicker.com. Butker was the first-team kicker and third-team punter on the inaugural list of Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-Americans that was released earlier this week.
Butker, who is 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds, was first-team All-State in Class AA after making 16 of 17 field goals, a success rate of 94.1 percent. He also made his last dozen field goals to help Westminster to the second round of the playoffs. Butker also excelled in kickoffs and punting to round out a spectacular junior season.
Nine of his 16 field goals were from 41 yards or more and he made 20 of 22 extra points (one miss was the result of a bad hold). He drilled 47 touchbacks on 59 kickoffs and averaged 39.5 yards on 33 punts. Four of Butker’s punts were more than 50 yards with six downed inside the opponent’s 20. He averaged 67.3 yards per kickoff with a 3.87 hang time.
Former Arizona Cardinal kicker Cedric Oglesby of Prokicker.com’s staff watched Butker kick and punt at a Prokicker.com camp in Atlanta and came away impressed.
“I think he ended up with the best kickoffs of all the summertime (camps),” he said. “His hangtime and distance were great. He just seems like he’s a pretty athletic kid.”
Butker is also a humble kid. He praises teammates and coaches for his outstanding performance.
“A lot of credit to the long-snappers and holders and my kicking coach (Joe Sturniolo),” Butker said. “In a game if you have a bad snap or a bad hold, you’re probably going to miss the kick. We practiced field goals a lot because, luckily, I played for a head coach (Gerry Romberg) who liked to kick field goals.”
Butker didn’t kick field goals as a sophomore but went to a Prokicker.com camp in Atlanta and found he could do it.
“That camp jump-started me and got my eyes open toward kicking,” he said.
Butker’s only miss came from 59 yards out in a game at the Georgia Dome. “It would have probably been good from 54 or 55 (yards),” he said. “It was the fourth kick of the year and made me three for four.”
Butker wouldn’t miss again. He was eight-for-eight from 40 to 49 yards and also hit a 51-yard attempt.
Butker isn’t just a kicker or football player. He’s an athlete who stars in three sports at Westminster – soccer, football and basketball – and also excels in the classroom. He carries an A average while receiving honors in several Advanced Placement courses.
“Westminster is a great school where academics are a big thing,” he said. “It’s hard with three sports trying to keep up with schoolwork but I’ve been managing. Education is first.”
His parents, Harrison and Elizabeth, were both former soccer players so he naturally leaned in that direction when he was younger. Butker has been a defense starter in soccer since he was a freshman and he used to play club soccer but now focuses more time on football where he hopes to be a kicker in college after he graduates.
Oglesby said Butker is built more like a punter because of his length.
“With the length of his leg he could be a good punter as well,” he said. “punter is something you mature into a lot of times. He can be an outstanding punter if he puts some time in this summer.”
Butker’s season didn’t go unrecognized by the media. He was voted first-team kicker in Class AA over Alabama commit Adam Griffith, causing raised eyebrows throughout the state of Georgia.
“Adam Griffith (of Calhoun, Ga.) is No. 1 on Scout.com, I beat him out,” Butker said. “Adam said I had the better season. He wasn’t too angry about it.”
Butker played in the Georgia Junior Bowl where he punted well and had a kickoff that carried seven yards deep into the end zone – and they kicked off from the 35-yard line. However, because of commitments to basketball practice and games, he missed most of the practice sessions that week.
Butker is dedicated to whatever is in front of him. He’s also thankful for coaching help from Sturniolo and Romberg.
“He’s very passionate about kicking,” Butker said of Sturniolo. “He helped me all last summer and all through the year. A lot of schools don’t have anybody to lean on but I have him. The reason why I got to be where I am is because of him. Coach Romberg is a head coach who is very willing to kick field goals. I appreciate his faith in me.”
RAY GUY PROKICKER.COM HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICANS
By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
ASHLAND, Ky. – The inaugural Ray Guy Prokicker.com High School All-Americans include some of the nation’s top punting, kicking, kickoff and long-snapping prospects.
Players were selected after much vetting from the Prokicker.com staff, who watched and coached the players during camps, and also by how the players performed on the field during the 2011 high school season.
“Our staff has personally watched these players and worked with these players during camps,” said Prokicker.com founder and camp director Rick Sang. “We’ve seen them and know what they can do.”
There were four All-America categories – punting, kicking, long-snapping and kickoff specialist. The last category is believed to be the first of its kind in receiving All-America postseason recognition.
“There are a lot of facets to special teams and we feel like this is an important one that sometimes gets overlooked when it comes to being recognized as the best,” Sang said.
Selecting the first All-America team with the Ray Guy Prokicker.com brand was something that Sang wanted to make sure was done as accurately and fairly as possible. Prokicker.com rankings and ratings weighed into the selection process but only because that meant staff members had either worked with or watched these honorees perform.
“We’re proud of what these young men have accomplished for their high school teams and look for each one of them to play at the college level,” Sang said.
Eight different states were represented: Georgia (two), Texas (two), Florida (two), Kentucky, Virginia (two), Arizona, South Carolina and Arkansas.
Among the first-, second- and third-team selections three players – kickers Harrison Butker, Nick Tankersley and Patrick Sohrt – were selected as Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-Americans in two different categories.
Butker, a combo kicker for The Westminster Schools near Atlanta, was the first-team All-America kicker and third-team punter.
Sohrt, the left-footed kicker from St. Joseph High School in Victoria, Tex., was a second-team All-America selection as both a punter and kickoff specialist.
Tankersley, who helped Manatee High School capture the Florida Class 7A championship, was the second-team kicker and the third-team kickoff specialist. He was 18 of 26 on field goals and 68 of his 100 kickoffs went for touchbacks.
Ray Guy, the former All-Pro punter for the Oakland Raiders who is considered the greatest punter in NFL history, was proud to lend his name to the inaugural Ray Guy Prokicker.com High School All-Americans.
“These young men have proven that they’re the best of the best,” Guy said. “I’ve seen many of them personally in camps and know the work ethic that goes with being a great kicker or punter. These guys have that something special, that ‘it’ factor, that separates them from the pack. This is just a steppingstone for many of them. We look for them to do great things at the next level.”
First-team selections were:
punter: Thomas Meadows (6-0, 170, senior), Goochland, Va., Goochland High School, Purdue commit.Averaged 41.2 yards per punt for Goochland High School, the Division II Class A state runner-up. He had 13 punts inside the 20 and allowed only 14 return yards. He was first-team district, first-team region, All-Metro and participated in the Chesapeake Bowl where he punted five times for a 46-yard average.
Meadows credits his early experience with Prokicker.com into making him a top-notch punter.
“They really teach the techniques,” Meadows said. “I took a different approach than most kids my age did. Most kids my age went out and kicked the ball. I wanted to learn how to do it the right way. I wanted to establish my form. In my opinion, and in Rick Sang’s opinion, I’ve got some of the best form of anybody my age.”
Meadows will compete for the punting, kickoff and placekicking jobs when he gets to Purdue this summer.
“It depends on how I do in the offseason but I could be doing all three (for Purdue in the fall).”
kicker: Harrison Butker (6-3, 170, junior), Atlanta, Ga., Westminster.All-State First Team in Class AA Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Sports Writers Association; All Metro, all classification, in Atlanta/South Fulton area; participated in Georgia Junior Bowl.
Butker made 16 of 17 field goals with only miss coming from 59 yards. Butker connected on a 51-yard field goal. He also had touchbacks on 47 of 59 kickoffs (80 percent) and also punted for a 39.5 average on 33 punts. Four of them were more than 50 yards with six downed inside the opponent’s 20.
“It was an incredible season,” Butker said. “A lot of credit goes to the (long)-snappers and holders. I was lucky to have a kicking coach (Joe Sturniolo) and a head coach (Gerry Romberg) who liked to kick.”
KICKOFF SPECIALIST: Zach Burgy-VanHoose (6-1, 214, senior), Pikeville, Ky., Pikeville High School. Led high school team to Class A state semifinals by booming 85 percent of kickoffs for touchbacks. kicker for Kentucky in Border Bowl against Tennessee and was selected as kicker on the WMYT All-Mountain Team.
“It definitely is great to be able to end the high school season with that award. It makes you feel good; makes you feel like all the hard work is finally paying off.”
LONG-SNAPPER: Rey Higuera (5-11, 225, senior), Gilbert, Ariz., Perry High School. Arizona All-State 5A Division II first-team; All-Region, All-Section first team; snapped in Semper Fidelis Bowl; Prokicker.com national champion long-snapper for 2011.
“I’ve been long-snapping since I was a sophomore but I didn’t start getting competitive in it until the end of my junior year,” Higuera said. “Our team had a guy who was long-snapping and getting fairly good. We had heard about a coach (Ben Bernard) in Phoenix (Arizona Elite Long snapping in North Phoenix) who turned out a lot of Division I long-snappers. I really enjoyed playing football but was not the most athletically gifted person. I had to work to get where I am.”
Second-team selections were:
punter/KICKOFF SPECIALIST: Patrick Sohrt (6-2, 205, senior), Victoria, Tex., St. Joseph High School. Sohrt did a little bit of everything for his team in the kicking department but excelled on punt and kickoffs.
“I actually think my punting got better from last year. We had a 1-9 season, so we did punt a lot,” Sohrt said.
Despite St. Joseph’s record, Sohrt was named a first-team All-State punter. “I’d like to do punting and kickoffs (in college) but I’ll do whatever they ask me to do. I just want the chance.”
kicker: Nick Tankersley (6-1, 165, senior), Bradenton, Fla., Manatee High School. Tankersley had a huge season for Florida 7A state champion Manatee High School, which finished 13-2. “When you play that many games, it’s good experience and good exposure.” Tankersley made 18 of 26 field goals with a long of 53 yards, a school record. Four of his misses were from 50-plus yards. He also had 68 touchbacks on 100 kickoffs and punted 39 times for a net average of 37.18. He allowed only 28 punt return yards.
“He can do all of it (in the kicking game),” said Manatee assistant coach Dennis Stallard. “He’s probably more natural kicker/kickoff guy. He taught himself through what he learned at Prokicker.com camps. It’s not a natural motion for a kid with a soccer background.”
LONG-SNAPPER: Ike Powell (6-3, 240, sophomore), Tifton, Ga., Tift County High School. Powell was the Ray Guy Prokicker.com National Championship runner-up for 2011 and was the national winner in the underclassman division.He was All-Area in a four-county area. Powell is also the youngest Prokicker.com All-American selection and the top-ranked player in his class at long-snapper.
Here’s what Jacob Claycomb, a Prokicker.com staff member, said about Powell:
“Ike has always been really gifted. You can tell he works hard at it. He has his own target in the back yard. Most kids don’t know their exact score before you tell him. Ike threw the last ball and said ‘Oh, man, 24 points.’ He had a running clock in his head. Ike’s pretty much the whole package. He’s probably one of the better long-snappers I’ve had come through the camps. He’s such a hard worker.
During the national championships his fastest snap was .77 and his average was .83.
Third-team selections were:
punter (tie): Mitchell Ludwig (6-0, 170, junior), Abingdon, Va., Abingdon High School. First-team district and regional punter, second-team kicker; Virginia preps.com AA First-Team All-State punter and Virginia Preps.com AA underclassmen First Team All-State punter; set five school kicking and punting records; one state of Virginia record submitted (single game six punts for 50.33 yard average).
Harrison Butker (6-3, 170, junior), Atlanta, Ga., Westminster (See information above).
kicker: Houston Ray (5-11, 170, junior), Van Buren, Ark., Van Buren High School.
KICKOFF SPECIALIST (tie): Sean Covington (6-1, 175, junior), St. Petersburg, Fla., St. Petersburg High School; Nick Tankersley(6-1, 165, senior), Bradenton, Fla., Manatee High School.
LONG-SNAPPER (tie): Mike Sulka (6-4, 240, senior), Bluffton, S.C., Bluffton High School; Fred McClimans (6-0, 205, senior), Flower Mound, Tex., Flower Mound High School.
HONORABLE MENTION
KICKERS
Nick Bartolotta, Fox High School (Mo.), class of 2012
Sean Covington, St. Petersburg High School (Fla.), class of 2013
Andy Ellington, Winfield High School (W.Va.), class of 2012
Pedro Ramello, Fishers High School (Ind.), class of 2012
Austin Jordan, Airport High School (S.C.), class of 2012
Trent Domingue, St. Paul’s School (La.), class of 2012
PUNTERS
Alex Barta, Clarkston High School (Mich.), class of 2012
Cliff Hurst, Centreville Academy (La.), class of 2012
Brian Bostrom, Kings Academy (Calif.), class of 2012
KICKOFF SPECIALISTS
Mark Grant, Mosley High School (Fla.), class of 2012
Ryan Frain, Scecina Memorial High School (Ind.), class of 2012
Harrison Butker, Westminster Schools (Ga.), class of 2013
Nick Bartolotta, Fox High School (Mo.), class of 2012
Carson Greifenkamp, Murray High School (Ky.), class of 2012
LONG-SNAPPERS
Chris Fitzpatrick, Anderson County High School (Ky.), class of 2012
Leonard Skubal, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) High School, class of 2012
Chad Leonard, Queens Creek High School (Ariz.), class of 2012
Travis Taulbee, Montgomery County High School (Ky.), class of 2012
Zack Hirth, Eureka High School (Mo.), class of 2012
Nick Walter, Pickerington Central (Ohio) High School, class of 2013
Billy Oldach, The Rivers School (Ma.), class of 2012
Brent Becenti, Ganado High School (Ariz.), class of 2012
Top-rated kicker in All-Star Game
Westminster, Ga., junior Harrison Butker, a Ray Guy Prokicker.com camper, has been selected to play in the Georgia Junior Bowl, an all-star game.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Butker, rated the nation's top high school kicker by Prokicker.com, is among 90 players selected for the game who will return for their senior seasons next year, according to a Westminster announcement.
Averaging 67.3 yards per kickoff last season for the Wildcats, who advancd to the second round of the AA state playoffs, Butker made 16 field goals on 17 attempts, only missing a 59-yard effort. He also averaged 39.5 yards per punt.
A starting defender for Westminster’s soccer team since his freshman year, Harrison joined the football team as a sophomore to handle kickoffs, taking on punt and field goal work this year, the school's release said. He holds an A average with a roster of honors and Advanced Placement courses at Westminster.
The Georgia Junior Bowl's kickoff will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 30 at Grady Stadium in Atlanta. The game is sponsored by RisingSeniors.com, which assists standout juniors in the college recruiting process.
Prokicker camp in Atlanta draws big talent
By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
ATLANTA – Big numbers. Big instruction. Big talent.
Some of the nation’s top kickers, punters and long-snappers were part of the biggest Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp of the summer on July 23-24 where nearly 100 campers converged on The Lovett School.
Not only was there a wide range of talent on display but there was a wide range of ages.
Ike Powell, who will be a rising sophomore as a member of the 2014 class and ranked third in the 2010 Prokicker.com national competition, proved he was doing nothing but getting better, said camp instructor Jacob Claycomb .
“He’s got a really bright future,” Claycomb said. “Long-snapping is something he loves to do, something he wants to do. It’s not mom and dad pushing him to do it. It’s all him.”
Powell, who has attended previous Prokicker camps, said he walks away each time a better long-snapper. And there’s nothing he’d rather do on a football field – unless it’s crashing into an opponent from his defensive end position.
Powell is pure football, top to bottom.
Claycomb compared him to Nathan Theus, who this spring signed a full scholarship to be a long-snapper for Georgia. Theus was the top-rated long-snapper in the country. Claycomb said Powell has that kind of ability.
“He’ll be the next Nathan Theus,” Claycomb said. “He can sign somewhere at a dominant school. It’s so great to watch such a good athlete enjoy long-snapping like he does. This kid could do anything."
Powell already has the size – he’s 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds – and the work ethic to do great things, Claycomb said.
Powell will be long-snapping on the high school level for the first time this fall. He’s looking forward to the challenge.
As for work ethic, Powell said he doesn’t stop long-snapping until he gets 30 perfect snaps.
“However long that takes me,” he said.
Powell was 25 of 30 on the accuracy snapping competition, which should put him at or near the top of the current Prokicker.com national rankings.
Powell wasn’t the only talent on display in Atlanta though.
Michael Sulka, a rising senior, was another long-snapper with eye-popping ability. He’s from Bluffton, S.C., where he’s a long-snapper and also plays center and tackle for Bluffton High School.
“I play any of the bigger positions,” said the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder. “I want to long-snap in college. I came back (to the Prokicker camp) because I didn’t chart as well (at an earlier camp).”
Sulka is another dedicated long-snapper who said he throws 40 to 50 snaps on a daily basis.
“These Prokicker camps help so much,” he said. “The changed my grip a little and tweaked some other things. I could see immediate improvement. These guys are so hands-on with how they instruct."
“He was throwing a good ball,” Claycomb said. “Watching Mike snap, he’s definitely a lot better than the last time I saw him. He’s turned into a good long-snapper."
Kickers were also making impressions, especially a 14-year-old rising sophomore from Carrollton High School in Georgia.
Tyler Newsome showed off his strong leg by winning the Longest Field Goal competition with a 60-yard kick.
Newsome has been kicking since seventh grade but he’s looking forward to being a placekicker on the high school level to get more opportunities to boot field goals.
He said the Prokicker field goal competition got his adrenalin going.
“I had to keep calm and stay calm,” he said. “It was just like a game. Everybody was yelling and clapping. It was a lot of fun."
Newsome’s long-range kick wasn’t that much of a surprise since he was also putting kickoffs into the end zone on a regular basis.
Cedric Oglesby, a longtime Prokicker.com staff member and former NFL kicker for the San Diego Chargers, said Newsome had “a Division I caliber leg."
He said Newsome needs to be more consistent but along with the powerful leg has the right attitude about being a kicker and punter.
“He needs to get used to his body,” Oglesby said. “You’ve got to have that kickoff strength for the college coaches today. He went from a two-inch tee to a one-inch tee on the field goals. He needs to make that adjustment on kickoffs now.”
Newsome still has three years of high school which makes him someone to definitely watch, Oglesby said.
“He’s got a good future because he has the leg strength and the right attitude. But he needs to keep working."
Prokicker staff coach Taylor Long worked with a couple of kickers from the class of 2013 who put on the talent search.
Harrison Butker from Westminister High School in Georgia and Anthony Price from Marietta, Ga., both showed off “lively legs.”
Long said it’s easy to spot the prospects.
“You can just tell, sometimes even if you’re back is turned,” he said. “You hear that sound like a cannon going off. These guys have that. The potential is there."
While both Butker and Price have improving to do, Long said they both seemed determined to become college kickers someday.
“What’s impressive to me about Harrison was his kickoff leg,” Long said. “He led the camp with a 73-yard kickoff that had a 4.01 hang time. His motion is very fluid. The thing is, there’s so much more he can get into it. It’s still kind of raw, for lack of a better word."
Long said Butker would benefit from going to more Prokicker.com camps to develop his technique more. He said there’s no question the talent is there to mold.
“Great, great prospect,” he said. “He could develop into a Division I prospect. The talent is there. It’s up to how hard he wants to work."
Price was a similar kind of kicker, Long said, who could benefit from more instruction.
“They get to these camps and really don’t know anything about kicking it,” he said. “I’d love to be able to work with him about a week. He’s fully capable of going to a Division I school, too. Like anyone else, he has some flaws with technique."
Two other kickers with strong potential were Patrick McAlpin, a rising senior from Newnan (Ga.) High School and upcoming freshman Rodrigo Blankenship.
Prokicker staff coach Ryan Guy worked with McAlpin and Blankenship and was impressed with what he saw.
“Patrick’s got a strong leg and he’s real accurate with his technique,” Guy said. “I think he has a shot to play somewhere in college with his leg strength and all."
McAlpin made 90 percent of his field goals and averaged 60-plus on kickoffs.
Blankenship is a star on the rise, Guy said, with a big leg that gets both distance and hang time. He had one kickoff that traveled 67 yards and two others that went 62 and 63.
“He’s been coming to our camps the last three years and has made a lot of improvement,” Guy said. “He’s got a real strong kicking leg and is working hard to get better. It’s neat to see how he’s progressed."
Blankenship will be in his first year of high school football at Walton High School outside of Marietta, Ga.
Claycomb said he also had a first when he had a combo player who was a kicker and a long-snapper.
Stuart Peters, a rising sophomore in the 2014 class, came as a kicker but proved to be even better at long-snapping.
“He had his heart set on being a kicker,” Claycomb said. “He charted 23 of 30, which is tremendous. He’ll probably be in the top three or four of 2014. I told him to keep working on long-snapping, that’s where his future was.
“I was totally shocked (at his long-snapping). He’s the first kicker-long-snapper combo guy I’ve ever had."
Prokicker.com results from Atlanta camp
ATLANTA – Competition results from the Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp at the Lovett School.
Long Distance Field Goal High School: Tyler Newsome, 60 yards
Long Distance Kickoff: Harrison Butker, 73 yards, 4.01
Hang Time Punt: Mac Miller, 35 yards, 4.67
Out of Bounds Punt Right: Troy Bray
Out of Bounds Punt Left: Troy Bray
Fastest Single Snap: Michael Sulka, .74
Most Accurate Snapper: Ike Powell, 25 of 30
TOP PROSPECTS
Michael Sulka, long-snapper, 2012
Ike Powell, long-snapper, 2014
Tyler Newsome, kicker, 2014
Anthony Price, kicker, 2013
Harrison Butker, kicker, 2013
Patrick McAlpin, kicker, 2012
Rodrigo Blankenship, kicker, 2015

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