Football's year of the kicker: Byrd, Parkway, Captain Shreve thrive on booming kickers
No one’s shouting it from the mountain tops, but 2022 might be the year of the junior kicker in Shreveport-Bossier City.
At least three area juniors have been getting their kicks big time and impacting their teams heading into the midway point of the Louisiana high school season. Byrd’s Abram Murray, Parkway’s Aeron Burrell and Captain Shreve’s John Chance will certainly leave even bigger marks before they complete their high school careers in 2024.
Northwest Louisiana certainly has had its share of top kickers over the past couple of decades. Former Loyola standout Art Carmody IV starred at Louisville and won the 2006 Lou Groza Award emblematic of the nation’s top placekicker. Northwood’s Marty Kent converted 129-of-133 point-after attempts in four years at Louisiana Tech, and his son, Kaegan, is now kicking for Evangel.
Byrd’s John Shaughnesy had a strong career at Northwestern State and Loyola’s Jacob Lafitte is currently kicking for McNeese.
The future might even be brighter thanks to Murray, a Calvary transfer, who has hit his only two attempts this fall from 45 and 49 yards.
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“We’ve been fortunate over the years to have some great kickers here,” Byrd coach Stacy Ballew said. “Abram Murray is continuing that tradition. He’s a weapon for us no doubt. If a drive stalls, I have no problem sending him out there to try a long field goal.
Committed to the Miami Hurricanes, Murray’s booming kickoffs consistently force opponents to drive 80 yards for a TD.
“The benefits of having a kicker like Murray is that if he makes it, we finish off a drive with points, and if he misses, it’ll be a touchback,” Ballew said. “That, and his ability to consistently put kickoffs in the end zone, is invaluable for us.”
Parkway’s Burrell is another kicker attracting a lot of recruiting attention. He’s been offered by North Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Grambling and Houston. He visited LSU last weekend. He was successful on a kick of 52-yards and hit a 50-yard game-winner recently against Haughton. He’s put 25-of-26 kickoffs into the end zone, including two that came from the 25-yard line following penalties.
“Aeron’s our most valuable player,” Parkway coach Coy Brotherton said. “His field goal range is 65 yards. We get a couple first downs, and we have opportunities for points. It’s a huge weapon for us.”
Chance doesn’t yet have collegiate offers, but that may just be a matter of time. He’s drilled field goals from 27 (twice), 28 and 49 yards and his big leg consistently makes kickoffs unreturnable.
“John is unbelievable. To have a guy who can flip the field on punts and make a 40-plus field goal is a weapon,” Gators coach Adam Kirby said. “He’s an asset to our team and deserves everything good coming to him. His work ethic and desire to be great show up on Friday. I’m proud to be his coach and glad he’s on my team.”
Jimmy Watson covers Shreveport-Bossier area sports. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Booming kicks: Shreveport-Bossier has at least three elite junior kickers
