Amherst, Altavista placekickers set for state finals

AMHERST — As many extra-point opportunities as Amherst sophomore placekicker Tyler Dawson has had over the past two seasons, he’s gotten it down to a science, especially kicking on his own Pro-Grass FieldTurf at Lancer Stadium.

“I love kicking on this turf right here,” he said. “It’s like kicking on carpet.”

Though the uprights are eight feet narrower, he is much more excited about kicking at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, which features a Bermuda grass field and a state-of-the-art drainage system. Dawson will get his chance Saturday as the Lancers battle Broad Run at 4:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s Group AA, Division 4 state championship game.

“That’s been my dream ever since I was a little kid,” said Dawson, whose father Hank kicked for the Lancers from 1984-85 before going to Virginia Tech. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, to come out of that tunnel.”

“I’m so glad he gets to do that,” added Hank, who tried to walk on for the Hokies but was unable to unseat Chris Kinzer. “He likes Tech, would like to play at Tech. To come out of the tunnel and touch the Hokie stone, that would make his life there.”

For Altavista junior placekicker Blake Todd, kicking on the FieldTurf at Salem Stadium during Saturday’s Group A, Division 1, state final against J.I. Burton (noon kickoff) will be a dramatic improvement over trying to kick in the mud pit Altavista’s English Stadium turned into for last Saturday’s semifinal win over West Point.

“I’ve never kicked on turf until today,” Todd said Wednesday night. “Our team traveled up to E.C. Glass and practiced (on its FieldTurf) for a couple hours and I loved it. It kind of spoiled me. I got my plant perfect.”

Both Dawson and Todd, the all-Dogwood District first-team placekicker, have been almost automatic on field goal and extra-point attempts this year.

Dawson is 8-for-9 on field goal tries — with a season-long 45-yarder in a 58-14 rout at Bassett — and has converted 64 PATs with only one miss, also at Bassett, while having a few others blocked.

Though FG or PAT might be more fitting, Dawson acquired the nickname TD early on.

“I like TD,” he said. “It is what I’ve been called all my life. My teacher even called me that in middle school.”

He’s got a strong leg for his 5-foot-7, 137-pound frame, converting from beyond 55 yards in practice, with a 60-yard attempt in summer camp hitting the crossbar.

“The farthest one I ever made in practice was 59,” Hank Dawson said. “I’ve seen him make it from 58.”

Todd, a converted soccer player, has made good on five out of six field-goal attempts with a season long of 34 yards. His only miss came in windy conditions at the Region B final at Riverheads. On PATs, he’s converted 55 out of 58, and the three that he missed were blocked.

That’s not bad for someone who didn’t even know there was a placekicker in football until eighth grade, when his P.E. teacher called his mom, Melody, and asked her to have him try out for the team.

“She thought it was funny I was going to go out there and play football,” said Blake, a team captain for the Colonels in spring soccer. “It’s a totally different game.”

To improve his technique, Todd has attended a kicking camp at UVa the past two summers. His younger brother Grant, a linebacker and tight end on Altavista’s JV team, often videotapes and analyzes his kicks.

“My brother’s like a perfectionist,” Blake said. “He helps me by telling me, ‘Your leg isn’t where it should be.’”

Though Dawson played soccer growing up, his dad got him started in placekicking at the age of 4. His mind has been focused on the uprights ever since, kicking for his first organized team in sixth grade.

“One thing that keyed me into the fact that it was not a whim or a fad was when my dad made a field goal (post) and put it in the back yard,” Hank said. “(Tyler) would go out at night with a flood light on and just kick until we had to tell him it was time to come in.”

As kids, Hank and his younger brother, Bill, who followed in his footsteps to serve as Amherst’s kicker from 1986-87, began kicking over a two-by-four nailed between two trees in their backyard.

“We pretty much taught ourselves growing up,” Hank said. “We were the first ones at (Amherst) who kicked soccer style.”

Todd has picked up a few pointers from William Haupt, the grandfather of his girlfriend, Somer Haupt, who in the early 1950s used to kick using the toe approach, rather than the instep of his foot, at what is now Salem High School, host of Saturday’s final.

“He was talking to me about how they used to have the barefoot kickers,” Todd said. “He used to do the straight-on kick.”

Amherst assistant coach Mike Padgett, who was a placekicker for the Lancers in the early 1990s before going on to kick and play baseball at Bridgewater College, is Dawson’s primary coach now.

“I kick about 40 balls a day (in practice), either by myself or with coach Padgett,” Dawson said.

During games, he maintains his focus and keeps his leg warmed up by kicking into the sideline net any time the Lancers are near field goal range or on the verge of scoring, which is about any time they have the ball.

Neither kicker minds the pressure of delivering with the game on the line.

“I haven’t really had one, but I’m kind of excited to get one,” Todd said of a game-winning kick. “I know it’s going to be crazy to be in that situation where if I make it, it’s going to be a good night and if I miss it, it’s going to kill me. My coach (Mike Scharnus) tells me to have a short memory.”

Dawson is ready whenever his name is called, regardless of the situation.

“He’s pretty determined, pretty focused,” Hank Dawson said. “He doesn’t seem to get rattled and he’s pretty accurate.”

Altavista assistant coach Mike Reavis has helped Todd work on the mental aspect of the game by simulating crowd noise during a kick.

“He’ll try to just get in my head and tell me stuff,” Todd said. “It’s funny (and) it kind of helps me block it out. The first couple of times, right before I kicked it, he’d yell and I’d shank it. Now, I don’t think about it and just take a breath and put it through.”