Kickers aiding efforts on gridiron

Confidence remains high in clutch

By: Justin Feil
   Kickers appear just a few times in a football game on their very best days.
   Making the most of those chances is what separates the good ones from the bad, and the Packet-area is blessed with three of the better kickers in the entire state.
   Scott Demler of The Hun School, David Griffin of Princeton High School and Dan Jankoski of West Windsor-Plainsboro South are up to the task when called upon. Griffin and Jankoski’s teams will play each other Saturday. Hun hosts Poly Prep on Saturday. All kick as well as punt for their teams, and live for that chance to make the difference for their team.
   "All my life, I’ve been pretty clutch," said Demler, a junior for the Raiders. "Ever since I was playing soccer, I always took the very last penalty kick. I don’t think I’ve ever missed a clutch kick. It’s all about having confidence."
   Confidence cannot wane in kickers. There’s nothing quite like battling the nerves that come with knowing the game is riding on your shoulders. Griffin knows that feeling. As a sophomore last year at Hanover High in New Hampshire, Griffin was called upon in the Group IV state championship game for a 30-yard field goal in a mud pit of a field. His kick sailed through with 6 seconds to play for a 15-13 win and a Hanover repeat state title.
   "It’s all about peer pressure," Griffin said. "It’s all about people getting in your face. You have to have ice in your veins. When you’re trying to win the state championship, you can’t be thinking about anything else. I just went out there with tunnel vision."
   It’s not just making the long, difficult kicks that make the difference. All the little extra points add up as well. Miss them, and a team can be in a hole. That’s why the Pirates feel so lucky to have Jankoski, who earlier this year broke the program record for consecutive point after touchdowns with his 13th. He has an area-best 28 PATs to go with one field goal.
   "He’s on pace for another record," said Pirates head coach Todd Smith of the senior placekicker. "The record for points for a kicker is 34 and he’s on pace to break that too. It’s nice to see a kid who converted from soccer to have a good year."
   All three area kickers have a soccer background. Jankoski gave it up most recently, making the switch before this season.
   "He came up to me at the beginning of the summer and said it was something he was thinking about," Smith said. "I told him to talk to (WW-P South soccer coach) Brian Welsh about it. He talked to him and some people and decided to come out."
   The Pirates are happy to have him and know they can rely on him for a clutch kick if they have to. His 42-yard attempt against Ewing hit the crossbar and bounced out. To this point, Demler and Griffin have had the farther chances in their careers. Demler kicked a 45-yard field goal last year and this year hit the top of the upright on a 44-yarder. He made a 42-yard kick against Mercerburg this season. He’s got the leg for more than that range.
   "The farthest I’ve hit is a 65-yarder at Penn State kicking camp," said the Washington Crossing, Pa. resident, who has interest from Wake Forest, Georgia and Penn State, where his father, Fred, was part of the Nittany Lions unbeaten 1973 team. "I’m comfortable from 55 and anywhere in. Last year, during a kicking competition at Clemson, I hit a 60-yarder. It helped me boost my national ranking."
   Demler, whose brother Todd kicked for Hun before him, has bounced back nicely from a torn hip flexor in his non kicking leg that cost him the second half of last year. He continues to strengthen his leg with offseason sprints, which he says are the key to adding distance. During the season, he has to conserve for clutch situations.
   "I don’t do that much during practice," he said. "I show up for the first 30 minutes. After that, I’m pretty much the water boy. Once it gets to the offseason, that’s when I train hard."
   For Griffin, the key to improving his leg strength in the offseason is pool work. It’s part of his secret to developing into a top kicker after a very subtle start. Griffin was just messing around, taking kicks as an eighth grader when Hanover head coach Mike Ivanoski caught a glimpse and encouraged him to pursue it. Three years later, he’s doing all he can to improve his accuracy and leg strength.
   "You want to do stuff under water," Griffin said. "You need that resistance to work all the muscles in your legs. I do a lot of pool workouts. I do a lot of repetitions. I’m in the pool a lot."
   When he’s not, Griffin also has become a fixture at some top kicking camps. He won the junior and senior division at the National Kicking Service camp in Buzzards Bay, Mass., last summer with a 55-yard make. He also kicked a 58-yarder last summer.
   "I’m really confident within 45," Griffin said. "This coming January, I’ve been invited to the National Kicking Service Elite Camp in Orlando. For me to go on, I’ll have to do well there. I’ll have to win the junior and senior division again at Buzzards Bay. I may go to a New Jersey camp for punting too."
   Not only do the three take the field goals and kick off, they also do the punting for their respective teams. A good punter is an undervalued commodity.
   "This is my first year punting," said Demler, an Australian- or rugby-style punter who is now drawing interest as a punter as well. "I went to a couple camps this year and found out I was a good punter.
   "It did catch me by surprise. I had really no idea I was that good a punter until my first game against Worcester. I think I had a 42-yard average that game. I had four punts inside the 20-yard line. I had an amazing game."
   Griffin, too, has been amazed by some his results, particularly given his inexperience in punting. He did not punt for Hanover, but PHS asked him to try it when he transferred.
   "I was thrown into it this year," he said. "I’ve done all right. I think I have four inside the 20. With a nice little wind, I had a 78-yard punt against West Windsor North."
   It’s all they can do as punters to help their teams win. And as kickers, they know they can’t do their job if the team doesn’t do its. All are quick to credit their teammates — their snapper, holder and line — for their contributions.
   "It’s all about chemistry," Griffin said. "It all started this summer. I took out (holder Jon) Mitko and (snapper Matt) Chester for lunch. I do it every year. Every year, it’s been someone different to work with."
   Added Demler: "You have to have confidence in your line and holder. I wouldn’t be as good as I am without them. Tyler Stockton is my snapper, Shane (Davis) is my holder and Greg Tomczyk is on the line. We’re all pretty tight. I credit my line and snapper and holder."
   When it all works, three area kickers have the legs and the confidence to make the clutch field goals. When it goes great, those kicks make all the difference and win games.