Sports Update
Football: Boot Camp: The latest line in Carroll's rich kicking tradition
Kelsey Kruzich / Staff photo
Southlake Carroll has continued to excel in the kicking game thanks to place kicker Drew Brown (left), punter Sam Downey (middle) and kickoff specialist Ty Cummings (right). The trio is hoping to follow in the footsteps of previous Dragons kickers who went on to play in college and the NFL, with Cummings having already committed to the University of Houston.
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
On Thursday night, St. Louis Rams rookie kicker Greg Zuerlein made his 13th consecutive field goal, tying him with former Carroll kicker Kris Brown for the second-longest streak to open an NFL career, which Brown accomplished in 1999.
The player he is attempting to catch at No. 1 is Carroll product Garrett Hartley, who banged in 16 consecutive field goals to open his career during the seasons of 2008 and '09.
Hartley and Brown combine for a span of 13-of-14 years in which a Carroll alum has converted a field goal in the NFL, a stretch most college programs would be proud of.
The two are at the forefront of what has been a kicking revolution at Carroll that also includes the likes of Mac McGuire (2010 All-USA second team by USA Today following a perfect regular season) and Cade Foster (currently kicking at Alabama and state record holder for career PAT's).
Now the Dragons have a new line of big legs looking to continue at the next level, including kickoff specialist Ty Cummings, place kicker Drew Brown and punter Sam Downey.
During the summer, Cummings became one of the first kickers in the nation to make a college commitment, electing to continue his career at the University of Houston. Brown and Downey, both currently juniors, also hope to continue in the college ranks.
The trio gives Carroll head coach Hal Wasson and third-year varsity kicking coach Austin Cranford a luxury most coaches could only dream of.
"We really are lucky to have three kickers like we have," Cranford said. "If we only had one, every one of them could do all three of the jobs if we needed them to. There are many schools that can't find one to be as consistent and do the jobs that our guys do. It's a real luxury and we're lucky to have them and have them working together every day. We come out and help coach each other up all of the time."
Entering District 4-5A competition, Brown had converted 13-of-13 PAT's and 2-of-3 field goals, while Cummings recorded touchbacks on 9-of-16 kickoffs. Downey has averaged more than 34 yards per punt with a long of 62.
Last year, Cummings had 54 touchbacks on 101 kickoffs, Brown was 17-of-23 on field goals with a long of 49 and 109 total points and Downey had an average of 39.6 yards on 55 punts.
"I think they feed off each other," Wasson said. "They all encourage each other and support one another and I think that makes us a better team. Of course, it's not about just the kickers. You have to have the protection and the hold. And I think that's helping out Drew and Sam. Having confidence in the holder and the snapper and knowing they are going to have the time to get the kick off."
"We all kind of accept our role and as long as the team is winning, who cares?" Downey added.
There are many different routes Carroll's kickers have taken on the way to their respective positions. Most of them, though, began with a background in soccer.
"In middle school, they needed a kicker so I just tried out," Downey said. "After playing soccer my whole life, it came in handy. I went to a few kicking coaches and slowly worked on it."
"I started kicking in eighth grade after playing soccer and just kind of fell into it," Cummings added. "The kicker in seventh grade quit and I was almost forced into it. I picked it up and I was awful. But I was better than everyone else, so it went from there."
Others, like Brown, have a pedigree already instilled in them.
"My brother (Kris) was an NFL kicker so I kind of grew up under his wing," Brown said. "Obviously, I played soccer for much of my life until my freshman year. I guess I was kind of born with that kicking ability and if you are good at it, it's really a good thing to do because not that it's easy, but you don't have to run that much and things like that."
As to how Carroll has three quality kickers at the same time? Maybe it's just a coincidence.
"I think it's just kind of the luck of the draw," Cummings said. "A bunch of teams we have played don't have great kickers but we have three really good ones that could start at any other school and do everything."
But if you ask Cranford, it begins with a solid work ethic.
"Really it's just a matter of the kids," he said. "They come out and work hard. They work on their craft to get better every day. It's a great tradition of kickers coming through here and excelling and moving onto the next level. Kind of like quarterbacks and things like that, it's a luxury that we have them."
That tradition also plays a big role in current and future success.
"You see them growing up and you think 'I want to be better than they were,'" Brown said. "You make that goal and strive for it every day. We have a great tradition of kickers and we take pride in being good at kicking and special teams. We want to be better than the guys before us and keep it going."
"I watched Cade Foster my freshman year and I always wanted to be better than him," Cummings said. "I remember thinking that it would never happen and that's what motivated me to work as hard as I have and get my kickoffs as far as they are now."
The daily routine of Carroll's kickers include drills with the team at the start and end of practice in between which they make the short trek to the track field where they work on specialty kicks and other aspects that may be in the game plan. Each kicker also practices every facet of the kicking game.
"In case something does happen, they're prepared and can jump in and really go," Cranford said. "And it keeps the competition alive. If one starts struggling, they know another one is knocking on the door that we can throw in there. It's good competition, but they're great kids and enjoy each other. It's a good, healthy atmosphere."
If you ask Wasson, Carroll's kicking specialists aren't underappreciated in the least bit. But if you ask the kickers, they may receive too much credit.
"I don't feel we are underappreciated at all because we don't do as much work as the others," Cummings joked. "We get the proper amount (of due). I get credit for doing the onside kick against Skyline in the playoffs last year. But really I made one play when (quarterback) Kenny (Hill) made like 85 awesome plays that game and he deserves all the credit."
Carroll's kicking tradition isn't expected to end in the next two years, either.
"There are a couple of good kickers below us, too," Downey said. "There is a freshman who is good at field goals and sophomore who is good at kickoffs."
"I hope it continues to get better because I don't want it to get worse," Cummings added. "At Southlake, like coach Wasson says, the bar should always be raised. Drew is trying to be better than Mac, who had an incredible senior year of field goals. I'm trying to kick better than Cade Foster did. We all have ridiculous expectations. I want to kick every kickoff through the uprights. We can still do better, though, and there is room for improvement. But I think that after Drew goes through that no one can top him."
The player he is attempting to catch at No. 1 is Carroll product Garrett Hartley, who banged in 16 consecutive field goals to open his career during the seasons of 2008 and '09.
Hartley and Brown combine for a span of 13-of-14 years in which a Carroll alum has converted a field goal in the NFL, a stretch most college programs would be proud of.
The two are at the forefront of what has been a kicking revolution at Carroll that also includes the likes of Mac McGuire (2010 All-USA second team by USA Today following a perfect regular season) and Cade Foster (currently kicking at Alabama and state record holder for career PAT's).
Now the Dragons have a new line of big legs looking to continue at the next level, including kickoff specialist Ty Cummings, place kicker Drew Brown and punter Sam Downey.
During the summer, Cummings became one of the first kickers in the nation to make a college commitment, electing to continue his career at the University of Houston. Brown and Downey, both currently juniors, also hope to continue in the college ranks.
The trio gives Carroll head coach Hal Wasson and third-year varsity kicking coach Austin Cranford a luxury most coaches could only dream of.
"We really are lucky to have three kickers like we have," Cranford said. "If we only had one, every one of them could do all three of the jobs if we needed them to. There are many schools that can't find one to be as consistent and do the jobs that our guys do. It's a real luxury and we're lucky to have them and have them working together every day. We come out and help coach each other up all of the time."
Entering District 4-5A competition, Brown had converted 13-of-13 PAT's and 2-of-3 field goals, while Cummings recorded touchbacks on 9-of-16 kickoffs. Downey has averaged more than 34 yards per punt with a long of 62.
Last year, Cummings had 54 touchbacks on 101 kickoffs, Brown was 17-of-23 on field goals with a long of 49 and 109 total points and Downey had an average of 39.6 yards on 55 punts.
"I think they feed off each other," Wasson said. "They all encourage each other and support one another and I think that makes us a better team. Of course, it's not about just the kickers. You have to have the protection and the hold. And I think that's helping out Drew and Sam. Having confidence in the holder and the snapper and knowing they are going to have the time to get the kick off."
"We all kind of accept our role and as long as the team is winning, who cares?" Downey added.
There are many different routes Carroll's kickers have taken on the way to their respective positions. Most of them, though, began with a background in soccer.
"In middle school, they needed a kicker so I just tried out," Downey said. "After playing soccer my whole life, it came in handy. I went to a few kicking coaches and slowly worked on it."
"I started kicking in eighth grade after playing soccer and just kind of fell into it," Cummings added. "The kicker in seventh grade quit and I was almost forced into it. I picked it up and I was awful. But I was better than everyone else, so it went from there."
Others, like Brown, have a pedigree already instilled in them.
"My brother (Kris) was an NFL kicker so I kind of grew up under his wing," Brown said. "Obviously, I played soccer for much of my life until my freshman year. I guess I was kind of born with that kicking ability and if you are good at it, it's really a good thing to do because not that it's easy, but you don't have to run that much and things like that."
As to how Carroll has three quality kickers at the same time? Maybe it's just a coincidence.
"I think it's just kind of the luck of the draw," Cummings said. "A bunch of teams we have played don't have great kickers but we have three really good ones that could start at any other school and do everything."
But if you ask Cranford, it begins with a solid work ethic.
"Really it's just a matter of the kids," he said. "They come out and work hard. They work on their craft to get better every day. It's a great tradition of kickers coming through here and excelling and moving onto the next level. Kind of like quarterbacks and things like that, it's a luxury that we have them."
That tradition also plays a big role in current and future success.
"You see them growing up and you think 'I want to be better than they were,'" Brown said. "You make that goal and strive for it every day. We have a great tradition of kickers and we take pride in being good at kicking and special teams. We want to be better than the guys before us and keep it going."
"I watched Cade Foster my freshman year and I always wanted to be better than him," Cummings said. "I remember thinking that it would never happen and that's what motivated me to work as hard as I have and get my kickoffs as far as they are now."
The daily routine of Carroll's kickers include drills with the team at the start and end of practice in between which they make the short trek to the track field where they work on specialty kicks and other aspects that may be in the game plan. Each kicker also practices every facet of the kicking game.
"In case something does happen, they're prepared and can jump in and really go," Cranford said. "And it keeps the competition alive. If one starts struggling, they know another one is knocking on the door that we can throw in there. It's good competition, but they're great kids and enjoy each other. It's a good, healthy atmosphere."
If you ask Wasson, Carroll's kicking specialists aren't underappreciated in the least bit. But if you ask the kickers, they may receive too much credit.
"I don't feel we are underappreciated at all because we don't do as much work as the others," Cummings joked. "We get the proper amount (of due). I get credit for doing the onside kick against Skyline in the playoffs last year. But really I made one play when (quarterback) Kenny (Hill) made like 85 awesome plays that game and he deserves all the credit."
Carroll's kicking tradition isn't expected to end in the next two years, either.
"There are a couple of good kickers below us, too," Downey said. "There is a freshman who is good at field goals and sophomore who is good at kickoffs."
"I hope it continues to get better because I don't want it to get worse," Cummings added. "At Southlake, like coach Wasson says, the bar should always be raised. Drew is trying to be better than Mac, who had an incredible senior year of field goals. I'm trying to kick better than Cade Foster did. We all have ridiculous expectations. I want to kick every kickoff through the uprights. We can still do better, though, and there is room for improvement. But I think that after Drew goes through that no one can top him."
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