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

By TOM BONE / Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Samuel Stowers’ first field goal was no “chip shot.”

Limited to trying extra points last season, the Graham High School sophomore was sent onto the field on Sept. 23 and faced a 42-yard attempt against Marion.

The pigskin sailed right through that imaginary vertical rectangle described by the uprights.

“It was nerve-wracking, ’cause it was my first-ever kick — but I made it,” Stowers said. “It was a good start.”

A few minutes later he added a 40-yard field goal, helping the G-Men to a 28-26 win at Mitchell Stadium.

Even Graham’s new football coach, Mike Williams, was shocked, he said. The coach told Daily Telegraph sports editor Brian Woodson that night, “We’re getting pretty close to his max on those two and he hit them both, which was obviously a big part of the game.”

Graham quarterback Spencer Sheets said, “I had faith in Sam, I knew he could do it. He does it easy in practice, and I always believe in him.”

With five successful field goals this season, Stowers is currently tied in that category locally with two seniors, Brandon Barrett of Princeton and Reece Strong of Richlands.

Stowers, who is also a solid punter for the G-Men, said his friend and teammate Gray Baker suggested to the Graham coaches last year to give him a shot at kicking the ball.

Since then, he’s been perfecting the craft with help from his father, his neighbor Bill Akers, his coaching consultant Doug Blevins, and advice at “a couple of camps” in the offseason.

He has hopes to boot for a college someday. “That’s what I’m trying to shoot for,” he said. “That’s what my goal is.”

His initial success was a big confidence boost. He said, “The 43 was my first-ever field goal, so I know, if I go [into the game] inside of that, I mean, I made my first field goal like that; I can make this.”

Being a kicker is “a lot of pressure, but after the first one, you get used to it. It’s like an everyday thing.”

He knows his responsibility does not end after the foot contacts the ball. Kickers and punters must attempt tackles as a last resort in kick or punt coverage.

“You’ve just got to have faith in your team and watch where the returner is,” Stowers said. “You’ve got to be able to tackle to play this sport, and when it’s all on you — when [the returner] breaks free — you’ve got to be able to do what you’ve got to do.”

Bluefield High kicker-punter Justin Mariotti, who has four field goals this season, said tackling “comes with the game.”

“You’ve got to be able to get it out of your mind that you could get hurt,” he said. “You just go down there and you want to run over the people just like everybody else on the field does. After you kick the ball, you become just another player.”

Some local athletes have already kicked into the record books. Andrew Murray set a new Tazewell record in the first game of the year, a 53-yarder against George Wythe.

Strong holds Richlands’ record with a 48-yarder, and averages nearly 39 yards per punt — when he’s not calling signals as a quarterback. He is the school’s all-time leader in points scored and extra point kicks, and made a clutch field goal in the final minute to secure a week two win at Union.

Also a talented baseball player, Strong is weighing his options on his college destination. His brother, Bradley, is playing baseball at Western Carolina. Reece could join him on the diamond, but has said he might also try to kick at the next level.

That decision will wait until after the season as the 9-0 Blue Tornado strives for a return to the state championship game in December.

Barrett, in his only season as a football player, tied Princeton’s school record with a 41-yard kick at Graham and broke the mark with a pair of 42-yard field goals at home against Cabell-Midland.

Tigers punter Justice Shafer had a school-record 72-yard punt-and-roll last season against Huntington.

“I didn’t know I’d kicked it that far, at all,” Shafer said. “I didn’t know [I had the record] ’til the beginning of this season.”

Princeton head coach Ted Spadaro said special teams “can win or lose a game ... . There’s nothing better than to put an offense back on their own goal line. kicking is a weapon.”

“I’ve been real proud of my kickers here the last 23 years.” He said Shafer has “a major-college leg, when he does the right thing.”

Shafer, who plays offensive line and defensive end for the Tigers, said about his potential for college ball, “I’d like to go for punting, because I think I’d be able to excel that way, but I could definitely be a lineman. That’s more me; that’s what I’m built for.”

He noted, “Special teams is a big part of the game. ... If you don’t have good special teams all around, kickoff, kick return and so forth, it’ll lose the game for you a lot of times.”

A big play just before a punt “messes with you,” he said. “I’m just going to try to work on the mental thing. No matter what happens in the game, just be ready to kick the ball.”

Barrett, the captain of the Tigers soccer team, decided to join the football team for his senior year “to help out my friends. I’m friends with a lot [of football players]. We had a lot of seniors, and a lot of them are my friends. They needed a kicker, so I thought, I’m going to help them out.”

His first football-kicking attempt in front of Spadaro “went straight up in the air. I got too much underneath it,” Barrett said. “So I had to adjust, and get some practice, but I got the hang of it pretty quick, I think.”

He said Spadaro “really helped me a lot. He was really supportive of me playing soccer, too.”

No matter the length of his field-goal tries, Barrett said, “I was thinking just the same thing as all of them: I have to kick it just as hard. I mean, even an extra point, I kick it the same, no matter what.”

Tazewell’s Murray warmed up for his record-breaking kick with a 47-yard effort in a pre-season benefit game. He also has field goals of 42 and 41 yards this year, against Graham and Marion respectively.

Murray, who also plays tight end for the Bulldogs, has played soccer, basketball, baseball, and run track. He kicks partly because of soccer but said when he was little he just liked “to kick things!”

He likes to hit the ball on the “sweet spot” just above the bottom third of the ball and right below the middle. He blocks out the noise and concentrates on the ball when following through.

He said, “You have to be confident and flexible and have a sense of what you’re doing as you approach the ball.”

The senior has a 3.8 grade point average, is currently 16th in a class of 150, and wants to be an engineer.

Bluefield High head coach Fred Simon said about the kicking phase of the game, “It’s as important as any play on the field.” Field position as a result of a punt or a kickoff “is crucial,” he said. “It means a lot to any team.”

Mariotti said scoring for the Beavers on special teams is “pretty important, because every time we get a field goal or extra point situation, I know those points are crucial throughout the remainder of the game.”

Mariotti said his older brother played strong safety and wide receiver for Bluefield, “and I was a ball boy, so I’ve always been around the program. It’s kind of neat.”

He said that when he looks at making a long field goal, “I just pretend like it’s a normal extra point, and stay calm, and trust in my ability.”

Mariotti followed the career of former BHS kicker Lucas Stone, who went on to be a specialist for the University of Pittsburgh.

“It’s kind of neat, looking at Lucas, because he got to go experience a division I football level, but that all comes back to his work ethic,” Mariotti said.

“That kind of made me aspire to want to be here every day working at it, because I know, if you do that, you can get to that level of college football.”

He said, “Over the year I probably kick 5,000 field goals up here, during the summer. Every day. Just working.”

He said his father helps him. The BHS junior said, “He’s gone to a few camps with me, and he’s heard what the coaches will say, so he can keep pushing me. He keeps me motivated to come up here every day.”

He learned from the camps about “the mental side of the game, as well as the physical [side]. A lot of what I learned was that you’re only as good as your next kick. You have to be able to let the kick before that go, and not worry about the past.”

Though specialists do not always play the first three downs of a series, Mariotti said about his teammates, “All of these guys have been like my brothers since we first started playing football.

“I’m basically in the game with them, sitting there, cheering on the sideline until it’s my turn, and then I try to perform my job to the best of my ability.”

Simon said that Mariotti “works as hard as anybody on the team — hard on the weights, hard on his fundamentals, just kick-kick-kick. Very conscientious about himself and his play. [I’m] very proud of how he puts the time in.”

He also said that when it comes to a decision for a field goal try, “I feel good about him kicking it.”

Zack Keaton of Giles has four field goals to his credit this fall. Honaker sophomore Makenzie Phillips has scored on two and Twin Valley freshman Drake Presley has converted one.

Leading the way is Winfield's Andy Ellington, who has connected on 10 field goals and is three short of the state regular-season record set by current West Virginia University kicker Corey Smith in 2007 at Musselman.

The Generals have one game left on Friday at Spring Valley.

Ellington has also hit 15 extra points, but said making field goals may be the key to earning a scholarship.

"[The record] would mean a lot," Ellington said. "Because that shows that field goals are really my thing. Setting a state record is something a college coach would probably look at. I just really appreciate the coaching I've gotten this year. It's been a tough year and they really deserve some credit."

The senior said he has kicked at several college camps, including WVU, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Penn State, Western Kentucky, Marshall and Concord. His career-long field goal in a game is 47 yards, although he said he has been good from up to 55 yards at camps.

Ellington, who has also registered a 71-yard kickoff at a camp, said he looks at kicking as an art and definitely sees himself continuing at the next level.

"I like the art of kicking," Ellington said. "It interests me and I buy into the art of kicking. I like to work on my mechanics. I feel like that's what I enjoy and that's what I need to do in college."

He said as of now he is mulling an offer from Concord and other schools have shown interest as well.

First cousins Michael and Chris Molina, juniors who play for Hurricane and Cabell Midland, respectively, are also among the state's best kicking prospects. Unlike Ellington, they'll have an opportunity to affect their teams' fate in the postseason.

Hurricane's Michael Molina takes a multifaceted approach to kicking, as he handles placekicking and punting duties for the Redskins. This season is his first year of punting and he said he hopes to improve on several aspects of his game before his senior season next year.

"We lost [last year's punter] Tyler Payne and I just decided to step up," Michael Molina said. "Lately, I've been trying to do directional punting. Right now, I'm just trying to get my hang time up. That needs to improve a lot."

Chris Molina comes from a direct lineage of kickers, as his brother Alex Molina kicked for the Knights in 2008 and sister Sami, an accomplished soccer player, handled the place-kicking duties in 2009.

Chris said his siblings, as well as cousin Michael, have helped shape his game.

Prokicker.com alum Nolan McMahon kicked his way into the record books.

The junior, who plays at Homestead, Ind., High School, kicked a 56-yard field goal for a school record and finished with 60 PATs and 38 touchbacks in nine games. Homestead won its conference.

McMahon sharpened his skills this summer at one of the Prokicker.com camps near his home in Chicago. He was named a top prospect at the camp.

By Mike Easterling / Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Joel Sheppard steps off his paces. First back, then to the side. Set, he sprints toward the football.

He doesn’t so much kick the ball as to attack it as he goes through workouts following a freshman practice at Huntsville High.

“His whole goal in life is to kick a football as far as he can,’’ said David Sheppard, Joel’s father and a former running back for Grissom in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

Yeah, Sheppard has a jock’s goal. That might not seem like much of an ultimate achievement, if it weren’t for the fact that Sheppard is autistic.

He’s currently defying any notions that an autistic athlete can only be found at a Special Olympics event. He kicked for Hampton Cove Middle for two seasons, making “25 or 26” extra points by his dad’s estimates.

In Week 1 of this varsity season, he was called on to kick the final PAT of a rout over Scottsboro and made it.

“It felt good,’’ Sheppard said.

No doubt. Autism or not, the ninth-grader is perfect in his young varsity career.

And don’t doubt this – Sheppard can kick.

“Watch this,’’ Panthers varsity coach Scott Sharp said before the season began during a preseason practice.

On cue, Sheppard hurled himself at the ball and holder on a field goal attempt and sent the ball sailing. On the next attempt, he kicked so hard his foot slipped on the follow through and he landed on his back.

“He doesn’t get cheated,’’ Sharp said before sending Sheppard back to the freshmen practice.

He’s currently handling kickoff and extra-point duties for the freshman team.

------

David Sheppard noticed one constant when he took his son to McGucken Park to kick a soccer ball around.

“All he would do is kick it as hard as he can,’’ David said.
In 2008, David took a football on the trip to McGucken. He pointed to the field goals on the field and said, “See if you can kick the ball through that thing.’’

“It was cold that day,’’ David recalled, noting that Joel didn’t have much luck.

Then spring rolled around.

“A couple of months later he was kicking 35-yarders. In shorts, he can make 85 percent of his kicks between 35-40.’’
Shorts or not, David said, “I’ve seen him hit from 55, two 54s, 53 and was about 4-of-8 from there,’’ one day.

Joel attended a kicking camp at Huntsville and got technique tips from Vann and Lee Tiffin of Alabama fame and UNA guru Mike King.

“I’m just here to retrieve balls and hold it,’’ David said.
He does, however, remind his son of the tips he’s received.
“He needs to get more consistent,’’ David said. “But he’s got the leg.’’

He’s also throws a few curveballs.

“I’m a Jets fan,’’ Joel said. “The pro sports. Not college.’’
“Not Alabama?’’ echoed David. “That’s a first one on me.’’

-------

Joel Sheppard steps off his paces. First back, then to the side. Set, he sprints toward the football. This time with his helmet off and his curly, blond hair blowing in the wind.

Many of his kickoffs go far enough they’d be touchbacks in a game or high enough to get the job done. He then heads to the 30 and starts knocking field goals through the uprights.

“I’m out here with him four, five times a week,’’ David said.

Huntsville coaches see the two not only after weekday practices but on Saturdays, practicing mostly field goals and kickoffs but the occasional punt. They also work on helping Joel develop a better understanding of the game.

“We figured out this is what he can do,’’ David said. “We’ll hone it and let God do his work.’’

Joel attends classes that David said his wife Beverly assures him are “tailored to (Joel) but challenging courses, not just home ec.’’

After school, it’s back to kicking.

“It’s his passion,’’ David said.

By Katherine Smith / The Tampa Tribune

LUTZ, Fla. - Jessica Weatherman stood in front of her locker perplexed.

Jersey? Check. Pants? Check. Football pads? Check.

But what to do with all of them, she wasn't quite sure.

"Do I put on everything?" Weatherman asked aloud to no one in particular. "I don't know these things yet."

The world of tackle football is new to Weatherman, 16, and the Steinbrenner High junior's presence on the Warriors' varsity football team is new to the two-year-old high school. It's a learning process for everyone.

"I just have to make sure that the boys treat her the same way and usually after the first day, that will happen," Steinbrenner coach Floyd Graham said. "She's gotten a lot better for somebody who has never done it. She's very, very coachable. I found out that girls are easier to coach because they listen. Boys tend not to."

On the first day of spring football practice, 94 potential players showed up for workouts. Graham weeded out the wannabes with grueling practices. Those with less desire dropped out. By the end of the spring session, there were 68 players.

Weatherman was one of them.

"She didn't quit," Graham said.

And she didn't make the team as a novelty. Weatherman is a necessity.

Steinbrenner recently graduated its first senior class and with it went some football players. Graham had some holes to fill, including punter and kicker. His search would lead him to the flag football team.

Weatherman punted for the flag football team. She also has an extensive background in soccer and plays for Steinbrenner's basketball team.

"She's very athletic and taken right to it for someone who has never been a football kicker until recently," special teams coach Terry Mitchell said. "We had four kickers and I kept three on varsity and sent one to junior varsity. Right now Jess is the backup punter. She's a sprained ankle away from starting."

Tackle football is a new experience, but one Weatherman eagerly wanted to try. She was nervous all day at school on the first day of practice in pads when she would tackle and get tackled for the first time.

Apparently, she had nothing to be nervous about.

"We were doing Alabama drills and she was a linebacker and I accidently ran her over," running back Jake Carroll said. "I didn't know she was a girl then. If she had wrapped up, I would have went down. With the helmet on, she looks just like the rest of us out there. I can't tell the difference. She can hit."

Weatherman's fully prepared for the critics who think girls have no business on a football field.

"I'm not expecting for guys to go easy on me," she said. "I'm sure there will be some who think because I'm a girl, I'm easy to take out, but I don't care. They can think whatever they want to. If someone doesn't think I should be playing football that just makes me want to work harder."

That dose of bravado can be directly traced to Weatherman's mother Dena.

"She's brave," Weatherman's father Wade said. "That's what she gets from her mom. To go out and play football with all those boys on that field, that's brave. That's Dena."

Dena and Wade Weatherman met in jail. That's the story they used to tell people.

The click-clack of heels caught Wade's attention first. Working together for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at the old Morgan Street Jail, Dena's office was just near the booking area and Wade soon found himself making extra trips just to see her.

"She was very energetic," Wade said. "She was known for the sound of her heels walking down the hall, the speed she would walk with. She was a very hard worker, very intelligent. She would work so hard, it would almost embarrass people around her. She was full of energy."

Dena was also the thoughtful one. She didn't just leave money under her daughter's pillow when she lost her first tooth. She included a note.

Please let Mommy & Daddy have your tooth, the first tooth is very special and I know they will put it in the tooth fairy statue so if I need it I can get it. I will use all of your next teeth for my castle. Thank you, love the Tooth Fairy.

Dena was so thoughtful that when doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer in 1993, she was determined to shield the family from any of her hardships. And when the cancer returned, and returned, and returned, so many times that Wade lost count, she wouldn't allow it to interfere with her family's routine.

"She never wanted to be a burden," Wade said.

Her daughter knew something wasn't right when her father and younger brother showed up at Chamberlain High School, ironically Wade's alma mater, during her soccer game on November 10, 2009. The trio walked off the field and when they reached the stadium ticket office, Wade Weatherman broke the news.

"Mommy's not here anymore," he said.

Dena Weatherman may not be with her daughter physically, but her memory lives on in nearly every activity her daughter participates in.

Hours before the Warriors jamboree game against Alonso on May 20, Weatherman pulled her No. 47 jersey on for the first time. She gathered her hair in a ponytail, braided it and then pumped a few spritzes of red tea and fig body spray.

"Do you think it's OK to spray this?" she asked. "I always did it before flag football games."

And finally, with her uniform on, Weatherman grabbed a black Sharpie from her locker and began writing on her wrist.

This was something she did before flag football and basketball games too.

In large black numbers, she wrote 7-28-59, her mother's birthday.

"I saw how some of the girls before basketball games would write bible scriptures on their wrists," Weatherman said. "I figured I'd do something for my mom."

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com Editor

WOODLANDS, Tex. – When Christian Madrigal visualizes his future, he sees his brother.

Madrigal’s 12-year-old brother Nicholas was injured in an ATV accident 18 months ago and serves as motivation for the 18-year-old kicker.

“He wants to see me in the NFL,” Madrigal said. “He’s my drive, he’s why I’m doing it.”

Young Nicholas was in ICU for about six months following the accident but is much improved, his big brother reports.

“He’s doing way better, running, talking, all that,” Madrigal said. “But I still want to make it for him.”

Madrigal’s strong right leg could take him places. He’s 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds and powerfully built. His kickoffs sail consistently in the end zone and his field goal distance and accuracy makes him a top college prospect.

He was one of the top prospects at the Ray Guy/Prokicker.com kicking Academy over the weekend Woodlands, Tex., in the Houston area. Madrigal’s kicks had everyone at the camp impressed with his leg strength. He’s also a capable punter who gets good hang time on his kicks.

Madrigal, who is from Luskin, Tex., has played varsity high school football for four years. He transferred to Luskin during his freshman season and ended up a starter at kicker the next season. He has a long field goal of 59 yards.

“That was with no wind,” he said.

Madrigal practices his trade tirelessly. He has a goal post in his yard and is “constantly kicking field goals” there.

“I also have a football facility right down the road,” he said.

Many times, he said, fans show up early to watch him practice. “A lot of people come out to see me kick and kick it deep.”

He had a 66-yard kickoff against the wind at the two-day camp. He matched up well with highly regarded Patrick Sohrt from Victoria, Tex. The combination kickers impressed senior staff instructor Ken Olson, who said they “both are good enough to play on Saturdays.”

The first camp of the summer season for Prokicker.com resulted in some good competition, Olson said.

Rick Sang, camp director, said “they have great powerful kickoff legs” after watching the camp this weekend. Madrigal was there for both days and he learned a lot from the instructors on hand. Many of them were kickers in college and some in the NFL.

“A lot of people don’t like being told what to do but it’s actually helping me,” Madrigal said. “The first day I came here I was kind of frustrated but today I was on it. Everything was clicking. I tried some of what they suggested. I can tell a difference in my ball, especially the height on my ball.”

The next Ray Guy/Prokicker.com kicking Academy will be May 7-8 in the Tampa/Bradenton, Fla., area. Go to prokicker.com for registration information about the two-day competitive camp.

Corey Brinson has been named the first head football coach at Lake Minneola (Fla.) High School, athletic director Sammy Skinner announced Monday morning, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Brinson spent last season serving as the defensive coordinator at Evans High School.

“I always wanted to have the opportunity to start a program,” Brinson told the newspaper. “I am very excited and very thankful to have this opportunity.”

Brinson, 37, also has been a high school head coach once before, running the program at Valrico Bloomingdale from 2003-07.  During that time, he had a 15-35 record for Bloomingdale, a school that opened in the 1980s and never had a winning record or had reached the playoffs through Brinson’s tenure. He then worked as the special teams and wide receiver coach at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. He also served as the secondary coach at Port Orange Spruce Creek in 1999-2000.

“I think for me, him having head coaching experience was obviously a plus,” Skinner said.  “And the fact that he has college experience is nice because, hopefully, that is where most of our kids would want to play. Hopefully he has contacts with people in college.

“And the fact that he is from Florida also is a plus, because he knows the dealing with the Florida High School Athletic Association [the state's high school governing body]. He also knows the area.”

Test of time

The test of time is a test that every football coach faces each and every year, especially when it comes to the kicking game.  The good thing about Time is that it is the one thing, unlike talent, that all coaches have the same amount of.  So it stands to reason that those coaches who best utilize their time will have a decided advantage.  Since usage of time is one element in football that the coach can control, we have been motivated to write this book.

While all coaches extol the value of the kicking game, the reality is, when faced with the time constraints that all coaches have, the kicking game gets pushed back to the back burner and ends up being last on the “TIME PRIORITY LIST.”

THE TIME PRIORITY LIST

 1.   Time to install the offense.

2.   Time to install the defense.

3.   Time for meetings.

4.   Time for film.

5.   Time for the weight room

6.   Time for conditioning.

7.   Time for homework. (Remember the term:  student athlete)

8.   Time for physicals. (another day gone)

9.   Time for picture day. (another wasted but necessary day)

10. Time off.  (Remember they are still kids, not professionals)

11.  OH YES.  Time to install the kicking game.

We also must not forget the endless off the field duties of the Head Coach.  In high school it’s teaching in the classroom, the endless paperwork, parking lot duty, bus monitoring and constant supervision, as well as raising money.  In college it’s playing golf with boosters, speaking engagements and being available and involved in raising money.

All this is compounded for the small schools with limited numbers and a small staff.  Then school starts and there is even less Time.

 Excerpts from the book -Get a “kick” out of practice

Written by Coach Bill Tom Ross and Coach Rick Sang