Kickers play key role in team's success

As Brandon Melton walks from class to class at Santa Fe High School, teammates greet the junior with, “What’s up, kicker?”

It’s a rather anonymous and insipid nickname, if one can call it that, for someone who has converted dozens of extra points and field goals in the last two years — which is the brunt of the joke.

A kicker occupies a strange niche on a football team. On the one hand, the position is integral to the team’s success, putting pivotal points on the scoreboard. A kicker often ranks high in scoring, and a team cannot win without one.

On the other hand, kickers play less than 2 percent of any game. They’re rarely on the field, and, as a result, have different practice habits for such a specialized position.

“Everyone on a football team is going to get made fun of,” Melton said. “But kickers, we are kind of different. It’s just a different attitude and approach than everyone else. We’re kind of separate but still part of the team.”

A Key Position

La Marque coach Darrell Jordan understands the importance of a kicker. He spent most of last year without a reliable one and experienced first hand the agony of missed extra points and field goals.

The Cougars lost two district games by two points or less in 2009. One more made kick and La Marque likely would have been a playoff team — or at least tied for the final postseason spot in District 24-4A.

“Having a kicker is huge; it’s essential,” Jordan said. “And they’re not always easy to find.”

Playing without a good kicker also changes the complexion of the game. A missed kick can turn a tie game into a deficit, which disrupts play calling both offensively and defensively.

La Marque often played from behind a year ago because of failure to convert extra points. It meant more passing on offense instead of handing the ball to stellar running back Tim Wright, the team’s strength. Defensively, the Cougars often blitzed more frequently and took chances to create turnovers.

When they did score, the Cougars were forced to go for two-point conversions, which have historically low success rates. Sometimes they just went for two points because it proved more reliable.

In the Battle by the Bay a year ago, La Marque lost to rival Texas City because of a missed extra point. The Cougars couldn’t convert the two-point conversion on the final play of the game.

The problem even came into play in field goal situations. The Cougars often went for it on fourth down-and-long inside the 25-yard line, instead of trying to get three points.

La Marque is hardly the only team, especially in high school, affected by kickers.

Friendswood got lucky last week because of West Orange-Stark’s poor kicking situation. WO-S missed two extra points and made just one two-point conversion.

The Mustangs marched down the field in the final two minutes and scored. Zach Hardy hit the game-winning extra point to give Friendswood a 35-34 victory.

Hardy is 12-for-12 on point after tries this year.

“We’ve been really lucky,” Friendswood coach Steve Van Meter said. “We’ve had good kickers over the years. I’m glad it’s not a problem we have.”

A Different Breed

A kicker often gets labeled as unique or different. Melton does not argue.

While an integral part to the team, kickers often spend most of their time alone and away from teammates.

At Friendswood, for example, Hardy participates in only three periods of a 20-period practice session. Van Meter rarely works with Hardy because “he prefers not to instruct on something he doesn’t know much about.” Hardy has attended several kicking camps, so he knows what to practice, Van Meter said.

Melton often works by himself, too. While teammates run drills or lift weights together, Melton heads out on the field to kick.

Most county teams don’t even require kickers to go through the same workouts as everyone else. While the rest of the Indians practiced in the gym because of inclement weather Monday, Melton went home early. How could he kick indoors?

“We mostly leave the kickers to themselves,” Santa Fe coach Jay Buckner said. “They get the basics at the beginning of the year and work on their own. There’s not much else we can do.”

Kicking skills differ greatly from every-down players. Kickers work on mechanical and cerebral skills, such as shoulder positioning, leg swing and placement of the plant foot.

Everyone else on the team focuses more on physical abilities such as speed, instincts, reaction time and strength.

There’s also the psychological aspect. While football, with its 11 moving parts, might be the ultimate team game, a kicker often boils down to the individual: Can he make the kick or does he miss it? If he misses, can he recover?

The kicker is the goat or the hero, with no in between. The player must accept and embrace that role.

“Kickers are sort of like pitchers or golfers,” Van Meter said. “It’s a specialized, individual thing where there’s a certain amount of variables you work on.”

A Unique Relationship

The importance of the position combined with the separation and distinct differences causes a unique relationship between kicker and team.

During games, Melton often stands at the end of the sidelines, keeping his distance. He tries not to get in the way, yet remains ready when his name is called.

Melton, to become a greater part of the team, often jumps in to play defensive back or receiver during practice. Yet he doesn’t do so for very long because he needs to be able to kick a field goal or extra point with the game on the line. He realizes he has only to do one thing — and he must do it well.

“You try to become as much a part of the team as possible, while being the best kicker you can be,” Melton said.

It’s a delicate dance between impact player and the periphery. Which is why when teammates call Melton “Kicker,” he smiles, preserving the boundaries between kicker and position player.

But after a couple of seconds, Melton usually responds with, “What’s up defensive lineman or linebacker or fullback?”

And he fits right with the team.