Different tee in HS football than in college. It makes a difference. My question is what the heck with the stands. Our local HS games have packed stands. Even on away games our teams stand is full. Usually not even enough seats for all that travel. lots stand on fenceline. that is sad looking.
The first two kicks on the video are from an Oct 28th game at Franklin County. It was 44 degrees at game time and a light rain. If you look closely, you can see that the referee is wearing gloves. And on the second kick, you can see an umbrella in the stands (lower right corner). You had to be a true fan to be at that game.
Going into the game, Columbia had already won the district and had a 8-1 record. It was the last game for a terrible Franklin County team. The score was 49-0 Columbia at halftime. Thank goodness for the mercy rule in TSSAA. The clock ran non-stop in the second half and the Franklin County starters played the Columbia cheerleaders to a 7-7 tie.
That was what was amazing about this kid's leg strength. He was crunching the ball through the endzone on the fly. And he was kicking out of a bunch of slop. The field was soaked from two days of rain, it was cold, wet and miserable.
You can watch a lot of those high school kickers videos and you will see the return man at least backing up a few steps to catch the ball in the endzone. With this kid, it is like Albert Pujols cranking a 500 foot home run and the center fielder never even makes a move toward the fence. It is a no-doubter. Watch the returners in the video. They don't even back up...just stand there and watch it sail over their heads.
By the way, that first kick on the video hits the cross bar on the fly and that's why the ball is ricocheting back.
Ben Ogle from Greeneville also played at Franklin County this year. It was a similar blowout game. Ben is also a very good kicker. In that game, Ben kicked off 8 times and put all 8 into the end zone. But they all came down 3-6 yards into the end zone. Actually one was right at the goal line, because the returner came out running with it and the referee blew it dead.
