By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

RICHMOND – Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American kicker Zach Burgy-VanHoose is glad to have the college decision behind him.

The Pikeville (Ky.) High School senior decided on Eastern Kentucky University on Wednesday where he hopes to become the kickoff specialist.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders is the best way to describe it,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “I’ve been stressed out the past couple of weeks.”

Burgy-Vanhoose’s strong kicking leg helped him to first-team All-American status on the inaugural Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American team. He boomed 85 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks and was also selected to kick for Kentucky in the Border Bowl against Tennessee.

A veteran of several Prokicker.com camps, Burgy-VanHoose was courted by several colleges including Jackson State, Kentucky Wesleyan and Fairmont State. He could have been a preferred walk-on at the University of Kentucky and Marshall, he said.

He chose EKU because of its closeness to home (about a two-hour drive) and his familiarity with the campus. His brother, Alex, has attended EKU for the past two years.

“I loved Richmond, loved the campus and the coaches were great,” he said. “My (high school) coach (Chris McNamee) played there four years. They’re always winning conference championships. I think it’s a good fit. I even get to wear my maroon, too.”

The maroon-and-white Colonels are the same as Pikeville.

Burgy-VanHoose credited Prokicker.com director Rick Sang and his staff for turning him into a solid kicker that colleges would want. He’s been attending Prokicker.com camps since before his sophomore year in high school. Ironically, the first camp he attended was at EKU, where Ray Guy was one of the instructors.

“I don’t know where I’d be without Prokicker,” he said. “It definitely helped me. I could go on for days about them. They noticed things I was doing that I wasn’t even aware of. I left those camps with the knowledge they gave me and worked to become better.”

Burgy-VanHoose, who has a cannon-like leg, will be a preferred walk-on at EKU but could earn a partial scholarship if he becomes the kickoff specialist.

“I want to average 75 (yards),” he said. “I have a big kick of 80. I’m hitting about 71 right now. I plan on winning that field goal job, too.

“Rick (Sang) told (EKU) Coach (Dean) Hood he expects me to come down and win the job,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “That makes you feel good when somebody believes that much in you. I won’t let him down.”

Burgy-VanHoose was the kickoff specialist and field goal kicker this fall for Pikeville, a Class A school that reached the state semifinals. Pikeville to the state semifinals

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 Mark Maynard / Prokicker.com Editor

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Zach Burgy-VanHoose, the top-ranked kicker in the Ray Guy Prokicker.com rankings, is a weapon for his high school team in Kentucky. He booms kick after kick through the end zone on kickoffs.

Burgy-VanHoose, a senior at Pikeville High School, is also automatic when it comes to extra points. “I haven’t missed one since my sophomore year,” he said.

His long-range goal is to kick for somebody in college next fall but for now he’d like to win a game with a field goal.

“That’s my dream, to win a big game on a field goal,” he said. “Everything is going good and school is going great. It’d be amazing to go to state (finals).”

Kentucky begins its playoff season on Nov. 4. Pikeville will be playing Paintsville at home in the first round.

He has made only one field goal this season but looks toward making a difference in the postseason. Burgy-VanHoose is working with a new holder after last year’s partner suffered an ACL injury and didn’t come out for football.

“That’s definitely a factor (not having the holder) but it’s not all him,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “We haven’t been able to practice as much as we needed to. But we’ve had a successful season.”

Pikeville has an 7-2 record going into a game Friday against Shelby Valley.

Burgy-VanHoose has noticed improved distance on his kickoffs after working hard this summer, including attending three Prokicker.com camps.

“In the summer, it’s all I did,” he said. “Last year I had a lot of touchbacks but they wouldn’t go out of the end zone like they do now. I’ve kicked two through the uprights.”

He’s also been punting for the Panthers but says kicking is his future.

“I haven’t had any (college) offers, which is a little surprising,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “We’ll wait and see what happens.”

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Zach Burgy-Vanhoose was identified in the Prokicker.com talent search two years ago as a rising sophomore.

Now, as a rising senior, the Pikeville, Ky., kicker is among the best in the nation.

Burgy-Vanhoose charted during the Prokicker.com camp at Huntington High School over the weekend. Staff member Logan O’Connor, who did the charting for Burgy-Vanhoose two years ago, was impressed with his improvement.

“I remember two years ago he did good on kickoffs and not as good on field goals,” O’Connor said. “But (Saturday) he went 9 of 10 for 90 percent. He came to chart and that’s going to help him out.”

Burgy-Vanhoose displayed the same kind of leg strength he’s always had, O’Connor said.

“What I tell him every time I work with him is it doesn’t matter how far if you can’t kick it straight,” O’Connor said. “I can tell he’s worked on some of the drills we’ve showed him. His accuracy is much improved.”

kicker Caleb Keeton and combo kicker Tyler Schiefelbein were also identified as top prospects in the talent search by the staff in Huntington.

Keeton, a rising senior, struck the ball well and consistently put his kickoffs into the end zone, “which is what you want for high school,” O’Connor said.

“He came in and had really good ball contact, always hitting the ball clean,” he said. “It’s good when someone comes in and has a technical base. I can tell he’s been working at it.”

Keeton was disappointed with a 7-for-10 performance on field goal charting but O’Connor said two of the misses were achingly close.

“He was real close to doing better,” O’Connor said. “He’s got a good leg, makes good ball contact. I like him a lot.”

Schiefelbein was a combo kicker but O’Connor identified him a top prospect for h is punting.

“He kicked fairly well but his punting is what stood out to me,” he said. “He started out a little slow (punting) but really turned it around. His last seven or eight kicks were great kicks in the 44-and-above category with good hang time on all of those.”

The Huntington camp also featured Ohio State University kicker Drew Basil, who O’Connor said is going to be a great instructor. Long-snapping guru Ben Fuller was the camp coordinator.

“These camps are so good,” O’Connor said. “Rick (Sang, camp director) brings in a lot of top-quality people, like Drew and Ben. The kids who come to these camps will walk away with some good information on how to get better.”

Go to Prokicker.com for a listing of the summer camp schedule.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.  – Competition results from the Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp in Huntington Saturday and Sunday.

Long Distance Field Goal HS: Jamin Jones, 50 yards

Long Distance Kickoff: Micheal Molina, 62 yards, 3.65

Hang Time Punt: Jarod Martin, 39 yards, 4.55

Out of Bounds Punt Right: Jamin Jones

Out of Bounds Punt Left: Ethan Shortridge

Fastest Single Snap: N/A

Most Accurate Snapper: Jordan Abrams, 21 out of 30

TOP PROSPECTS

Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, kicker, 2012

Caleb Keeton, kicker, 2012

Tyler Schiefelbein, kicker-punter, 2013

DAYTON, Ohio - Competition winners from the Ray Guy Prokicker.com kicking Academy in the Cincinnati/Dayton area.

Long Distance Field Goal High School: Joey Nussbaum, 55 yards

Long Distance Kickoff: Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, 74 yards

Hang Time Punt: Joey Nussbaum, 36 yards, 4.52

Out of Bounds Punt Right: Ramadhan Ndayisaba

Out of Bounds Punt Left: Clifton Askew

Fastest Single Snap: Connor Devine, 0.78

Most Accurate Snapper: Connor Devine and Jackson Mahorney, 19 of 30

TOP PROSPECTS

Connor Devine, long-snapper, 2012

Joey Nussbaum, kicker, 2012

Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, kicker, 2012

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Zach Burgy-Vanhoose has been booming long field goals for as long as he can remember.

The strong-legged Kentucky kicker said he launched a 45-yard field goal when he was in junior high, connected from 50 yards as a freshman and once had a 68-yarder. All of those kicks came in practice.

“I’m trying to talk coach into letting me kick a big one,” the likeable Vanhoose said. “He said he would.”

(ABOVE: Vanhoose)

Vanhoose, who will be a senior this fall at Pikeville (Ky.) High School, is atop the Prokicker.com leaderboard in practically every category because of that strong leg. He’s getting attention and raising eyebrows with his towering field goals. He understands that his accuracy may be the only thing that is keeping from being the No. 1 overall prospect.

“We do those the first thing in the day and I get so nervous, I don’t know why,” Vanhoose said. “I’m more comfortable in a game situation. There’s so little (few) people watching it’s more nerve-wrecking than if there are hundreds of eyes on you.”

Vanhoose improved his stock at the Prokicker.com camp’s first day in Cincinnati by charting 7 of 10 field goals in competition. He plans on going to another Prokicker.com camp in Knoxville later this summer.

He said the Prokicker.com camps have turned him into a college prospect instead of just a long hitter.

“The people from down there know what they’re doing,” Vanhoose said. “I had a leg but didn’t have any form. They teach technique. They perfected that for me.”

Vanhoose said he was given “a bunch of drills” that he went back home and worked on.

“They know what they’re doing,” he said. “They could turn anybody into a kicker.”

Vanhoose has become a highly considered kicking prospect who should have some college options. He’d like to kick for the University of Kentucky and he’ll be attending a camp there on Friday. At Pikeville, he’s kicked between “10 and 15” field goals in his career, including a long of 48 yards.

Vanhoose grew up playing soccer but a knee injury during his freshman year ended that career. He also broke his knee when he was a seventh-grader. However, through a lot of rehab, he is stronger than ever.

Prokicker.com director Rick Sang said Vanhoose “has a powerful leg. He can really boom it.”

Vanhoose also punts for his high school team, a Class A school in Kentucky, and makes the kickoff a rather ordinary play with his kicks that scoot into the end zone on a regular basis.

“I punt for my team but I don’t consider myself as a punter (collegiately),” he said. “I’m a kicker and a kickoff specialist.”

Vanhoose has had a long kickoff of 77 yards with his goal to reach 80 yards. He’s currently kicking off a 1-inch block and has a 4-second plus hang time.

Taylor Long, a former All-American kicker at Eastern Kentucky University, worked as a staffer at the camp in Richmond, Ky., last weekend. He worked with Vanhoose, saying “he has nothing but options in front of him.”

Long, who knows a thing or two about long-range kickers, said Vanhoose had one of the strongest legs he’s seen on the high school level.

Longest FG competition

Jeff Nussbaum, who will be a senior at Beechwood (Ky.) High School in northern Kentucky this fall, won the Longest Field Goal Competition with a 55-yard kick.

"I thought I got it pretty good," Nussbaum said.

 (ABOVE: Nussbaum)

Sang said the kick was so strong it would have probably gone another 10 yards if it hadn't nestled into the net behind the goalpost.

"I was confident when they moved it back (to 55 yards)," he said. "My longest before that had been 55, too.

"I thought it was going to be short but it kept going. I was surprised. I didn't think it would go that far."

Nussbaum said he worked on his follow through on both kickoffs, extra points and field goals at the Prokicker.com camp. The advice he received was put to good use in the Long Field Goal Competition.

"I really do think it helped me," he said.

RICHMOND, Ky. - Results from last weekend's Ray Guy Prokicker.com kicking camp on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.

Long Distance Field Goal HS: Michael Hollifield, 50 yards

Long Distance Kickoff: Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, 77 yards, 3.72 hang time

Hang Time Punt: Taylor Ratcliff, 38 yards

Out of Bounds Punt Right: Taylor Ratcliff.

Out of Bounds Punt Left: Jordan Ward

Fastest Single Snap: Travis Taulbee

Most Accurate Snapper: Travis Taulbee, 21 of 30

TOP PROSPECTS

Travis Taulbee, long-snapper, 2012

Drew Patton, kicker, 2012

Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, kicker, 2012