Most high school football teams search far and wide for a kicker. Some convince a soccer player to put on shoulder pads and a helmet. Others take their most athletic individual and show him how to hit the ball with his foot.
Goochland, however, is fortunate enough to have two, Colby Cooke and Thomas Meadows. Both are seniors who started as soccer players, but now have scholarships to kick for Division I football teams.
"We realize how blessed we are," coach Joe Fowler said. "The worst part about it is that we got them both in the same class. In a perfect world, we would have spread them out by four years and had eight years worth of really good kickers."
So Fowler took the kicking responsibilities and split them down the middle. Cooke proved more talented at kicking, so he's responsible for field goals. Meadows found punting clicked for him, so he's the one who takes the field on fourth and long.
On kickoffs, they take turns. Of their 45 combined kickoffs this season, 38 have gone for touchbacks.
"It's difficult for a team to march 80 yards every time," Fowler said. "And they almost always get that."
That's part of the reason why Goochland has allowed just 79 points in seven games. The Bulldogs' kicking prowess allows them to take more risks on third down. If the play doesn't work, and they're in the red zone, they can send Cooke in for an almost guaranteed three points.
Cooke has connected on 10 of 11 field goal attempts this season, with the miss being a 53-yarder. In a game against Monticello last month, he set the school record with a 48-yard field goal. He says the longest he's hit in practice is 57 yards.
"It's all flexibility and stretching," Cooke said, who hopes to eventually reach 64 yards, one more than the NFL record.
On Friday against Cumberland, he slipped on a muddy field while attempting an extra point. Despite falling flat on his back, he still connected with the ball and sent it through the uprights.
"Wow. I can't believe that just happened in front of all these hundreds and hundreds of people," Cooke said afterward. "But still seeing the referees put their hands up as I made it made me feel better than missing it and looking like a complete idiot on the field."
Cooke has committed to Vanderbilt. He will grayshirt, meaning he won't enroll until January 2013.
Goochland's offense is averaging 45 points, so Meadows has had only nine opportunities to punt this year. But he's averaging 43 yards per punt and has sent four inside the 20-yard line.
Meadows will head to Purdue next year where he will compete against Cody Webster, a punter who was named an All-American last year as a freshman.
At Purdue, Meadows will study movement and sports science, which he calls "a less scientific version of kinesiology."
He can kick and punt, and he will compete at all three kicking positions, but he says punting is his strength.
"With punting, you have to be very precise," Meadows said. "If you miss that sweet spot by an inch, two inches, it's going to be a bad punt. Some people don't realize that."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement