Ichabods have new kicker, punter

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Aug 23, 2008 by Ken Corbitt

By Ken Corbitt

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Washburn's football team employed three freshmen place-kickers last season, and this year another true freshman will be booting the ball.

Andrew Knight and Kyle O'Neal handled the field goal and extra- point kicks for the Ichabods and Brahn Marrs was the primary kickoff man. None of the three are back this year, with Knight dropping off the squad last Tuesday when he was listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind Garrett Cummings.

That leaves all the kicking chores to Cummings, a Silver Lake product, and that's just fine with Ichabods coach Craig Schurig.

"Garrett has the perfect personality to be a kicker," Schurig said. "He doesn't seem to show any emotion.

"We'll see on game day if he gets a little fired up, but he just goes out there and thumps that ball. His timing and accuracy have been good."

Cummings was a preseason top 50 recruiting prospect last year by rivals.com and went on to earn All-Class 3A honors for state runner- up Silver Lake.

The Ichabods, who open the season against Colorado School of Mines at 7 p.m. Thursday at Yager Stadium, also have a new punter. Austin Hills, a sophomore from Burlington, takes over for Ben Boswell, who ranked No. 2 in the MIAA with a 41.0-yard average last year.

"Hills has been waiting in the wings," Schurig said. "He's had a lot of pressure thrown at him because the last two years we worked our first team punt block against him all the time. He's ready to go."

Sophomore Casey Curran is back as the primary punt returner, averaging 10.8 yards on 19 returns a year ago.

The Ichabods will miss kickoff returner Cary Williams, the All- MIAA selection who averaged 28.6 yards with two touchdowns. Tailback Terrence Lowe averaged 20.2 yards on 16 returns last year and Brandon Walker averaged 20.0 yards on three returns.

One area the Ichabods need to improve is kickoff return coverage. Fourth-quarter breakdowns played a part in setting up game-winning touchdowns in losses to Northwest Missouri State (28-27) and West Texas A&M (40-39) in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

"The offensive part of our special teams should be pretty good," Schurig said. "You worry about the defensive part because early in the season that coverage is hard to simulate at full speed."

Ken Corbitt can be reached

at (785) 295-1123

or ken.corbitt@cjonline.com.