Kicking World Blog

2018 Southern Regional Showcase Recap

We detail the top performers from the Kicking World 2018 Southern Regional Showcase held on September 16th at the historic Gopher Bowl in Grand Prairie, TX. Kickers and Punters from across the south put up BIG numbers and garnered our attention for the recruiting trail.

The 2018 Southern Regional Showcase at the historic Gopher Bowl in Grand Prairie, TX was an exceptionally talented camp. It was a hot day at 95 degrees with suffocating humidity reaching 98% along with a mid-camp heavy downpour, but that didn’t stop these talented specialists. We saw college level kicks and punts all day from HS student-athletes from across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, and we’d like to detail the day’s performance below.

For kickoffs and the majority of punts until the heavy rain arrived we used brand new out of the wrapper Under Armour 695XT leather footballs. We feel this sets Kicking World apart and provides a more accurate assessment for college football coaches. A well worked in dark brown 2-year-old ball can add as much as 6 yards of distance and .25 seconds of hang time. Hitting high kicking and punting numbers with brand new balls say a lot more about a kicker or punter’s true ability.

Riley Nuzzo (Denton Ryan HS) a Class of 2020 kicker/punter hit multiple kickoffs over 4 seconds into a knockdown wind. His distance suffered because of the wind, but hang times were remarkable, especially considering the brand new balls. He averaged 3.94 seconds and hit multiple balls in the low 4.0 seconds range. In a private lesson the night before he hit several punts nearing 5.0 seconds in hang time. He didn’t quite string his punts together during the competition, but really stepped up on kickoffs. If he can preserve his exceptional punt and kickoff hang times, and add 5 yards on his punt distances, Riley should be getting early interest from FCS and D2 programs. With his power, and continued improvement on overall consistency and duplicability he can evolve into an FBS level recruit fast and is becoming a strong contender to make the Kicking World Hot Prospect List.


Riley Nuzzo Punts night before the September 16, 2018 Southern Regional Showcase

Landon Reeves (Idalou HS, TX) a senior Class of 2019 kicker/punter proved yet again why he’s a Kicking World Hot Prospect winning the field goal competition (Golden Boot) after hitting a 58 yarder off the crossbar and ultimately winning with a 55 yarder straight down the middle. He also won the kickoff Elimination competition. Landon’s punting leg has come alive also, and should now be considered a true combo kicker/punter and a very attractive recruit for Division 1 football programs. He hit several punts in the mid 4 seconds hang time range well over 55 yards in the air. He picked up his first scholarship offer last week and we expect more to follow. Get on this kid before someone else does – great attitude and we’ve seen him consistently over the last 4 years and vouch for him.

landon reeves texas

Landon Reeves Kicking a 55 yard Field Goal on September 16, 2018 at the Southern Regional Showcase

Lukas Enloe (Gilmer HS, TX) a Class of 2019 Kicker/punter achieved some big hang times throughout the day on both punts and kickoffs. He showed great consistency during the practice punt period and strung together multiple mid 4.5 second hang time punts during the competition. Lukas does need to add 6~ yards on punt Distance. He averaged 4.32 seconds on his charted punts.

During kickoffs, he charted a respectable 3.62 hang time average. Lukas has a ton of potential as both a kicker and punter and has delivered under pressure at prior Kicking World camps winning Golden Boot and showing the leg strength to hit 55 yard field goals. He is currently using a 2” FG block and the transition to the ground could be tricky. While his form has been rugged, it has been fast improving at each camp appearance this season. We look forward to seeing Lukas put it all together at the National Showcase this coming December and he should garner some college attention with a strong showing.

Tyler Crawford (Broken Arrow HS, OK) a Class of 2020 Kicker/Punter was perfect through 55 yards during the double-elimination field goal competition. His leg was maxed out after the long day in the heat and extreme humidity, but I could see him having the strength to hit from 60 on a rested leg. Has a ton of potential on field goals and punts and does need to work on duplicability of his kickoffs. For punts, he does a rugby style rollout with a tight spiral. Has a big punting leg and is deserved of college looks immediately.

Garrett Clark (Poteau HS, OK) the HS Junior class of 2019 punter/kicker hit some really nice punts during the elimination, charting, and warm-up period. He has lots of potential on punting and with a little more consistency should be playing college football next year. We’re looking forward to seeing his improvement at our National event in December.

Hayden Decossas (Clear Falls HS, TX) a senior kicker/punter in the class of 2019 cranked out some big punts during the elimination period and also later in a head to head showdown to determine our punt elimination winner. Hayden only started playing football a year ago and shows a lot of potential and is becoming more fundamentally sound each time we see him. He hits a good deep kickoff but needs a little more consistency and hang time. Hayden has the ability to be a good punt/kickoff specialist for a D3 or D2 program, and possibly more with improved all-around consistency, and more hang time on his kickoffs.

Andrew Cunningham – the sophomore kicker/punter (2021) out of Wylie HS in Texas made it back to 55 yards during the field goal competition, and also hit some punts in the low 4 second hang time range. His older brother Brandon has been a long time Kicking World student and is a Hot Prospect alum, so we expect some tutelidge there and fast ramp up for Andrew over his next 2 years of HS. Andrew hung with upper classmen on kickoffs pushing 60 yards on his best hits. He flew under the radar during this Showcase event, but looking at the stats, he finished up very strong amongst sophomores and even overall.

Caleb Mendez (2021), the first-time Kicking World camper from the storied Texas HS football program of Pearland HS put together very consistent hang times on kickoffs averaging 3.75 seconds right around 60 yards. He had great foot to ball contact and ball flight on field goals. He is however using a 2” KO tee and 2” FG block, but we expect him to be down to the 1” tee and block by the time of our National event in December in Austin.

Buck Buchanan the freshman kicker (Class of 2022) from Hallsville HS in Longview, Texas showed substantial leg strength on kickoffs, hitting warmup balls and one charted competition kick 62 yards, 3.69 seconds (brand new balls). He does need to improve overall duplicability hitting his best balls at a higher percentage rate. He shows excellent form on both field goals and kickoffs and only being a freshman has a lot of untapped potential. We are expecting him to have a breakout National Showcase event and potentially earn a spot on our Hot Prospect List.

2018 National Showcase Invitees
The performances of the 2018 Southern Regional Showcase was simply lights out. 4 new National invites were awarded, and 5 other campers had already earned an invite earlier this season. A whopping 9 out of 17 participants from this camp have earned a 2018 National Showcase invite. We typically invite the top 5-10~% of campers. So these numbers really highlight just how good this Southern Regional event was!

View competition results from camp and see where you stack up. To participate in an upcoming Kicking World camp and receive a professional technique evaluation and learn tips on the college football recruiting process, check out our camp schedule page for dates and locations.

For more information on any top performer from our Southern Regional Showcase feel free to contact Kicking World owner Coach Brent Grablachoff.