During the past 20 years, many things have helped mold college football into the game that it is today. Near the top of that list is the increased importance of the kicking game.
It used to be that place-kickers were local, non-scholarship athletes who made good. Now, top high school and prep kickers are as highly recruited as some quarterbacks and wide receivers.
With national championships often won or lost on one swing of the leg, the importance of having a top kicker cannot be understated.
The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award annually recognizes college football’s top place-kicker.
West Palm Beach, Fla. -- The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has released the 20 semifinalists for the 2018 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Orange Bowl. These 20 kickers have all excelled throughout the season in earning their places as semifinalists.
Only five are returning honorees, including last year’s Groza winner Utah senior Matt Gay and fellow finalist Utah State junior Dominik Eberle. They are joined by Georgia junior Rodrigo Blankenship and UTSA sophomore Jared Sackett, both 2017 semifinalists, as well as San Diego State senior John Baron II who earned the honor in 2016.
Among the 15 new names are two very different types of first-year FBS kickers who sit atop the leaderboards. Syracuse freshman Andre Szymt and LSU senior Cole Tracy, a graduate transfer from Division II, lead the nation with 21 made field goals. The next five kickers trailing them while also connecting at 80% or better are also semifinalists: Arkansas junior Connor Limpert (16), Eberle (15), North Texas senior Cole Hedlund (15), Baron (14), and Wyoming junior Cooper Rothe (14).
Rothe, in fact, is still a perfect 14-for-14 on field goals, the most in FBS by a kicker without a miss. He’s joined on the semifinal list by the two other kickers still perfect while attempting more field goals than team games: Georgia Southern junior Tyler Bass (11) and UCF senior Matthew Wright (8). The next four most accurate qualifying kickers are also semifinalists: Florida freshman Evan McPherson (92.3), Michigan State sophomore Matt Coghlin (91.7), Szmyt (91.3) and Tracy (91.3).
For more information on the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, and to see the “Stars of the Week” throughout the season, please go to www.lougrozaaward.com. For even more updates on the best kicking performances throughout the season, follow @LouGrozaAward on Twitter.
The Lou Groza Award will be presented live as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show in Atlanta, GA on Thursday, December 6. The three finalists will be honored during a celebration in Palm Beach County, culminating with the 27th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet, presented by the Orange Bowl, on Monday, December 3.
The Lou Groza Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 24 awards boast over 750 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is a private, not-for-profit organization contracted by Palm Beach County to promote and market the County as a sports and sports tourism destination. The Commission brings sporting events and activities to the County, enhances economic impact, stimulates bed tax revenues (primarily in the off-season), and maximizes utilization of County facilities. The Commission offers a full range of event service support, corporate partnerships, sponsorships and a local membership program that support its goals. Local, regional, national and international marketing efforts are ongoing by the Commission with sports organizations and event owners. The Commission also produces sports-related programs for the residents of Palm Beach County including the annual Lou Groza Award program, the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame and the Kids Fitness Festival of the Palm Beaches. For more information on the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, go to www.palmbeachsports.com
As part of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards program, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission assembles a panel of Palm Beach County High School football coaches and select members of the local media to select the winners of three awards given out for excellence in Palm Beach County high school football:
Near the end of the season, ESPN West Palm, who’s broadcast team covers the local football program all season, provides the nominees for each award. At the annual Lou Groza Awards banquet in December the top three finalists in each category are recognized and the winner is announced.
The Palm Beach County Player of the Year Award is given out annually to the top prep football player in Palm Beach County. The award is open to players of all grade levels and school classifications.
Palm Beach County’s top quarterback finishes his senior season by leading his team into the playoffs with both his arm and his legs, becoming a Player of the Year finalist before heading off to Louisville. It wasn’t long ago that people were using those words about future Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, but this time around they’re talking about Benjamin quarterback Jordan Travis. Just his throwing numbers alone would put him in Player of the Year conversation, completing 60.5% of his passes for nearly 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. But add on to that his team-leading 732 rushing yards and 16 more scores on the ground and you start to understand the dominance Travis displayed game after game. He accounted for at least five touchdowns in more than half of Benjamin’s games. He averaged nearly 306 all-purpose yards per contest, and showed the versatility to get their either by mixing it up or focusing on just one aspect of his game. In a season-opening win at Glades Day, he threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more, racking up over 400 yards of offense. On the road at Calvary Christian, it was his arm doing the damage as Travis went 24-for-30 for 409 yards and 6 passing touchdowns. But in the season finale against King’s Academy, he ran for four scores and picked up more yards on the ground than in the air, going for nearly 150 yards in one of three 100-yard rushing games he had this year. It’s also where he showed off his ability as a receiver, hauling in a 62-yard touchdown on a game-opening trick play that started off an eventual 33-21 win, ending Lions’ 20-game unbeaten streak. The victory propelled Benjamin into the FHSAA playoffs once more and capped a phenomenal career for Jordan Travis.
The Palm Beach County Place-Kicker of the Year Award is given out annually to the top prep football place-kicker in Palm Beach County. The award is open to players of all grade levels and school classifications
Forest Hill’s dream season required every one of its 35 players to bring their best every play and every game. Each win was momentum for the next, building the confidence of a team that played for this year, not concerned with the prior 30 years. So if any team needed to be able to rely on its kicking game to keep momentum, it was the Falcons. Senior kicker Christian Rizzo stepped up and provided that safety net, going 26-for-29 on extra point attempts to provide valuable breathing room for a Forest Hill team that engaged in its fair share of shootouts. He added one field goal, a 33 yarder, but his contributions to the Falcons went far beyond just the stat sheet.
The Sam Budnyk Coach of the Year Award is given out annually to the top prep football coach in Palm Beach County. The award is named in honor of legendary coach Sam Budnyk, head football coach at Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, FL.
It’s difficult to put Jude Blessington’s turnaround at Forest Hill into context without first going through just how low things had been for the program. Coming into this season, the Falcons hadn’t made the playoffs since 1996. They had just one winning season since 1986, coming in Blessington’s second season. Over the last three decades, they suffered two different multi-season losing streaks, dropping 37 and 43 straight games. From 1999 through 2012 – which just happens to be the year before bringing in coach Blessington – the program won seven games total. So yes, an 8-1 season and a trip to the playoffs is a major accomplishment at Forest Hill. But don’t overlook the work he did to make this season specifically a success. His dynamic rushing attack confused defenses with movement and options on nearly every play, while his defenses stepped up with fourth down stops and late-game turnovers in each of their pivotal final three games to ensure the program’s first playoff berth in over 20 years.
For virtually any team in Palm Beach County, an 8-1 season and a trip to the playoffs would be cause for celebration, but nowhere could it have meant as much as it did to Forest Hill. Coach of the Year finalist Jude Blessington continued the Falcons’ incredible turnaround, leading the program to just its third playoff berth ever, and the first since 1996. The charge into the playoffs was led by one of the most dynamic ground games in recent memory. Utilizing shifts, options, fakes and misdirection, the Falcons carved up defenses, creating big play opportunities for the running back duo of sophomore Bry’yon Jones and junior Chaz Eaton along with junior quarterback Darius McClendon. The run-first (and -second, and -third) offense ripped off long touchdowns again and again, topping 20 points in all but one game, including five with at least 30 points. For many teams, such a run-heavy offense would need plenty of rest between possessions. But with only 35 players, many Falcons had to excel on both sides of the ball. For some, like standout Jordon Earle, that meant protecting the ballcarriers as a guard and then getting after them as a defensive tackle. For others, like Jones and McClendon, it means playing every snap in some games. Jones sealed Forest Hill’s nailbiting 6-0 district win over Palm Beach Lakes with a pick deep in Falcons territory, while McClendon’s two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, were pivotal to clinching their playoff spot with a 28-21 over Spanish River. Forest Hill players had to be so versatile that Eaton, in addition to starring at running back and tracking down rushers as a linebacker, was the team’s starting punter as well. It’s the type of scenario that might have drained other teams after a few games, but with Blessington’s preparation and his players’ dedication, Forest Hill turned it into the program’s best season in more than three decades.
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