For the past two seasons, Pella Christian’s kicking game has been better than most in the state. And each of those years, a senior kicker led the team on the special teams unit.
In 2015, Gabriel Soler was 52/58 on extra points and 2/3 on field goals with six touchbacks, and in 2014, Jacob Brouwer was 31/36 after touchdowns and 3/5 on field goals with 15 kickoffs punched into the end zone.
Head Coach Rich Kacmarynski is hopeful a new crop of specialists will supplement an offense that aims to light up opposing defenses and the scoreboard this fall.
“We are going to have to break in a new kicker this fall–Nathan De Bruin, a sophomore, was our JV kicker last year and is very athletic and has a very strong leg,” he says. “He was also very diligent in the offseason, as he attended two kicking camps this summer to work on it, and fared very well there.”
Kacmaryski is also feeling better about the punting situation this year–a move the Eagles may not have to make often due to their prolific offense, but still important for the battle of field position.
“We will also probably be looking at a new punter as well, Levi did a lot of the punting for us last year, and that will still be an option, but we have a junior by the name of Sam Brouwer who has been working very hard it and we’re excited about him,” Kacmarynski says.
Brouwer shared in duties last year, averaging 31.2 years per punt.
Pella Christian will look to show off their highly touted team in week one against PCM on Friday night in Monroe.