2009-12-10

Bandera’s Lobo kicker gives field goal record ‘the boot’

Courtesy of Sul Ross

His collegiate competition ended Saturday, but Sul Ross State University’s Michael Van Wagner has no intention of kicking his field goal habit.

Early next year, he plans to put his best foot forward at professional football scouting combines.

Record breaker
Van Wagner of Bandera drilled a 57-yard field goal in a season-ending loss to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Saturday, Nov. 14. The boot eclipsed Clint Wallace’s 1968 53-yarder as the longest in the Lobos’ 81-year gridiron history.

However, not only was Van Wagner’s kick a new Sul Ross record, but it is the longest in NCAA Division III football action this season – and just four yards short of the American Southwest Conference standard. The effort earned him ASC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career.

It will also give him impetus to test his abilities at a pair of professional scouting combines in February at Abilene Christian University and the University of Texas El Paso. The combines usually draw scouts from arena and other professional football leagues, as well as from the National Football League. An invitational NFL combine is held in Indianapolis Feb. 24 through March 2, so Van Wagner hopes to make a lasting impression.

This year, he successfully completed three of eight field goal attempts, making 21 of 24 extra point tries and averaging nearly 63 yards on kickoffs, including 12 touchbacks. During a Nov. 7 contest against visiting Mississippi College, the senior recorded a touchback on a free kick from the Lobo 20 following a safety.

In one of his best all-around games of the season – Oct. 10 against Texas Lutheran – Van Wagner drilled all five extra point attempts, had a 51-yard field goal erased by a penalty, knocked four of six kickoffs into the TLU end zone for touchbacks and averaged almost 40 yards on six punts, with four downed inside the Bulldog 20.

“This year, my leg is a lot stronger,” he said. “I did a lot of conditioning on my lower body and abs and kicked most of the summer.”

Confidence counts
Although he has had seasons with higher field goal accuracy – 8-15 in 2007 and 8-13 last season – he is confident about his chances. “If I go out and have fun, I will kick far and kick accurately,” he said. “I am my own toughest critic, so I try not to think too much (when kicking).”

Head Football Coach Wayne Schroeder arrived at Sul Ross at the same time Van Wagner did, and has watched his progress for four seasons – the first two as an assistant coach.

“Michael made an immediate impact on the campus,” Schroeder said. “He is an all-around guy and I cannot say enough for his work ethic. This year, he picked up punting duties and there are not many kickers who do both jobs.

Schroeder continued, “His kick on Saturday was a real topping for a great four-year career.”

The coach also noted that Van Wagner’s leg strength has improved each season.

“I gauge his leg strength on his kickoffs. This year, about 50 percent of his kicks went into the end zone. His leg strength has just grown and gotten better every year. If he maintains that strength through the combines, someone’s got to give him a chance,” Schroeder said.

Back story
Van Wagner started playing soccer at the age of three-and-a-half and by the time he was a seventh-grader in San Antonio, he decided to give kicking a football a try. A year later, his family moved to Bandera, and he kicked for his eighth and ninth-grade teams, spent a year on the junior varsity and two on the Bandera Bulldog Varsity.

As a senior, he ranked fifth among kickers in Texas high school players. Current University of Texas placekicker, Hunter Lawrence, ranked first.

Van Wagner and his mother, Marianne, sent highlight tapes of his high school games to a number of Division III universities, and he was later contacted by Sul Ross Assistant Coach Neil Trammel.

“Coach Trammel called, and I met with Coach (Steve) Wright and Coach (Drew) Bridges. I worked out a little on the field; they liked the way I kicked and told me I would be the regular kicker if I came here.”

Van Wagner did not take long to make up his mind. “I loved the campus. I love small towns, and I felt right at home,” he said.

During his career, he booted 22 field goals, including three game-winners, and converted 105 of 117 extra point tries. He had 27 touchbacks on kickoffs, and although he did not punt in high school, averaged over 37 yards a kick on 63 punts, 11 during his freshman season and 52 this year.

Van Wagner has kicked a pair of 70-yard field goals in practice, noting, “but there was a strong wind at my back. I have gone up to 65 yards (in less favorable conditions).”

‘Lonely job’
Although he has received some special teams coaching both in high school and college, and attended a couple of summer kicking camps, most of his work has been a solitary effort.

“It is a lonely job, at least the practice part, but I like it,” he said. “It gives me time to think about what I have to do.”

A kicker has about 2.5 seconds to launch from the time the ball is snapped. According to Van Wagner, “There is pressure; the defense is coming straight at you, the game could ride on your shoulders and you only have one play to do something.”

A kicker faces many obstacles, including 11 defenders intent on rushing or blocking the kick, along with bad snaps, tricky winds, poor holds and varying field conditions. Timing is essential.

When the snap is perfect, the hold is perfect and the kick is perfect, a record-setting effort can result.

“Going out there, I didn’t even realize the distance. My holder Jacob (Warden, also a Bandera teammate), told me it was 57 yards after I kicked it,” Van Wagner said.

Following a short break, he will resume his workouts, getting ready for a chance at the next level. He is also pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Sports Science, with a scheduled graduation date of December 2010. Van Wagner’s future goals outside of football include teaching elementary physical education and coaching.

In the meantime, he savors his Sul Ross experience, both on and off the field. “My teammates always had my back. They believed in me and knew how hard I worked,” Van Wagner said. “There are lots of memories. It has been a fun time here.”

“We have no one more deserving of post-season honors than Michael,” said Schroeder. “I hope his accomplishments are recognized and that he gets a chance at the combines to show his skill level across the board.”