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Monarch gets his kicks in soccer; football\7Vn, it's trur Thomas MorePrlt; * p - M a ri an 's sex' c e r goal -krrpn also is the football team's kieker this year.1G also true he made a 57-yard4field m ml during special teams pi alt; tilt; e and it cleared die crossbar by so much, it might have been good lioni at least bO yards.It's also a fact his kickolfs in practilt; e have routinely gone into the end /.one for touchbacks.And. it's acc urate to say TMPcoaches, players and fans are all buzzing about the kicker’s potential.It seems like the one person who isn't getting too carried away with all the hoopla is the one who will be [lulling double-duty this fall as the starting goalkeeper in soccer and the football team’s kicker. Monarch senior Drew O’Brien welcomes the challenge, but so faras Allen Iverson would say —it's just practice.‘I want to be in a game first,” O'Brien said. “Practice is a whole different thing.”Still, O’Brien is quietly confident what he has done in practice will carry over into a game. O’Brien, who also will be the punter, just wants to do whatever he can to help the team.That’s why I think this experiment has a great chance of succeeding Because O’Brien is taking it all in stride. His work ethic, focus and determined mindset will servehim well this fall.If anybody can do it, O'Brien/ *can.‘Drew is an outstanding individual,” IMP football coach Jon Borer said. “He is one of the most organized high school kids I've ever met. Wry smart, does a good job in school.During homecoming weeklast vear Borer's first at/the school he was the holder as TMP students not on the loot ball team tried kicking the hall ... during class competitions.Borer held for O’Brien, and was amazed. Borer said the ball just “explodes” offO’Brien’s foot.Borer talked with O’Brien in the offseason to see if he was interested in kicking, too, in addition to soccer.O'Brien was interested. So now he goes to football practice first, then soccer practice.“I think he can benefit bom teams,” TMP soccer coach Shawi^ Lawson said of O’Brien, a four-year starter at goalkeeper and an all-region selection last year. “I think he can bring both programs a little bit closer.“For me, that’s the biggest selling point — football’s got somebody to root for on the soccer team, andrgonzalM® daily n«ws.n«tFrom the Press Boxvice versa,” Lnvson added. “Plus, he can kick like nohodv's business.”sT he last time O'Brien was in a football uniform was his eighth-grade year at Felten Middle School. He was the starting quarterback and kicked off The team rarely even tried field goals or extra points, and it was another player who did.During the first preseason practice where the team worked on extra points and field goals. Borer kept backing up the line of scrimmage. First were extra points, then kicks from 37 yardsout, then from 42 yards out. When Borer said put it at the 40, O’Brien thought thatwas where the kickingtee would be placed, for a 50-yard try. But no — that’s where Borer wanted the ball spotted.O’Brien thought to himself, OK, let’s try it from 57. The first attempt landed about 5 yards short. One more try, Borer said.The second kick sailed high, end over end. It kept going ... and going ... and going. When I saw the ball sail over the crossbar, it was about halfway up the upright.For Borer, the amazing part about all this is O’Brien doesn’t have any experience. He just lines up and kicks it.“That was good from longer — ridiculous,” Borer said a few dayslater of the 57-varder. “We were4doing kickolfs today ridiculous.“He’s unbelievably consistent.”✓Borer added, “and he's raw, he's very raw.”If O'Brien doesn't make a single field goal, he will prove invaluable just on kickoffs alone. When I MP kicked off last year, opponents started out — on average on their own 45-yard line. If' the kick-off travels into the end zone for a touchhack, the hall is spotted at the20. Good field position can only help the Monarchs' defense.“If the other team can start averaging on the 25 instead of the 45, that’s such a huge difference,” Borer said. “That’s two first downs difference. We feel that alone is a great weapon for us.”Borer said he will talk to O’Brien during games, ask him if he thinks he can make a field goal from a certain distance, and go from there.TMP kicking records are available since 1984, and the school record is 53 yards, set by Luke Dreiling in 2002. Dreiling alsohad a 52-yarder in the same game, against Conway Springs in the substate championship game.After the 57-yarder — in full uniform against rushers trying to block the kick — Borer pulled O’Brien aside and asked him if there were any NCAA Division I schools he wanted the coach to contact.But all that's in the future.For (TBrien, it's all about the here and now. It’s about try ing to do his best Friday night, when the Monarchs open the season at hoim against Ellin wood. It's about trying to do his lest even Friday night.And it's about doing his best for the Monarch soccer team, every' single time out.Now, I don’t know if O’Brien has another 57-yarder in him. But I’ve seen him make it from 45 and 50 yards — with ease. And I saw him make it from 55 the other daywhile he was testing out new kicking shoes.I know it can be different in a game under pressure situations.And, right after the 57-yarder I wondered about high expectations and maybe too much pressure.But O’Brien is used to pressure, whether it’s stopping a penalty kick in soccer or swishing two late free throws as the starting point guard in basketball.And, as it turns out, O’Brien already has had to make a pressure kick.Alter he booted the 57-yarder, * all of O’Brien’s new teammates mobbed him at midfield. I thought, that’s kind of nice, congratulating him like that.Only later did I learn that Borer had told the players that if O’Brien made that final kick, they wouldrft* have to run.Now, that’s pressure. '**m
Newspaper Details
The Hays Daily News
Hays, Kansas, US
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
Page 6
Full Page
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Hays P.
KS, USA 17 Nov 2022
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