By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. – A long-snapper who is long on potential and a strong-legged freshman kicker were two of the standouts from this weekend’s Ray Guy kicking Academy Prokicker.com camp here.
Michael Sulka (pictured LEFT), who has been long-snapping for only a year, tied for the camp’s fastest single snap with Jacob Copeland at 0.78. The senior-to-be at Bluffston, S.C., High School is the center for his team and also the long-snapper.
“I work on it every day,” Sulka said of long-snapping. “I went to one of these camps when I first started and my (snap) time has gone down by like 0.4 to 0.5 seconds. They changed my stance just a little bit and it made a big difference.”
Sulka worked with long-snapping guru Ben Fuller and Appalachian State long-snapper Will Fitchett, who in three years has never had a bad snap, at the Prokicker.com camp.
“They helped me out a lot,” Sulka said. “I could tell a big difference from the first day (of camp) to the second day.”
Sulka said most of his long-snapping practice has come in the back yard.
“I was messing around with it because the long-snapper (from last season) was my friend,” Sulka said. “He said I should stay with it. The drills they’ve shown me the past two days are going to make a big difference. I could see great improvement almost overnight.”
Prokicker.com has identified the fast-improving Sulka as a long-snapping top prospect for the 2012 recruiting period.
Sulka, who played right tackle before switching to center, hopes to turn his long-snapping abilities into a ticket to college football.
“I’ve got a couple of looks,” he said. “The Wofford coach came in and looked at me.”
If Patrick Woods (pictured LEFT) keeps kicking like he did at Sunday’s camp competition, college coaches will be coming after him in a few years, too.
Woods, who will be a sophomore at Pine Forest, N.C., High School, won the Long Distance Field Goal High School competition with a 55-yard kick.
“I learned a lot of stuff, different drills and new stretches to help me out with my hip,” he said.
Woods, who played soccer most of his life and is ticketed to be the goalie for his high school team, said he began kicking “while fooling around outside at my middle school.”
Before he knew it, though, Woods’ strong leg had attracted some attention and he was soon on the varsity football team. He is also working on punting.
“I played soccer for about 13 years,” he said. “I use it to keep me in shape.”
Woods said the Prokicker.com camp was eye-opening because of the individual instruction. He worked with former Eastern Kentucky University kicker Logan O’Connor.
“I’m definitely looking forward to coming back to one of these camps again,” he said.
Woods was the first one in the competition on Sunday when he launched the 55-yard kick. Then he had to sweat out the rest of the kickers one by one.
“I was praying for them not to make it,” he said. “It was really fun.”
Woods said a lot of times high school coaches don’t focus on the kicking game. “It’s kind of like ‘Hey, you’re a kicker, you don’t matter. Go over there and kick some balls, do what you do.’ But at this camp, kickers matter. They show you what you’re doing wrong and how to correct it.”
Woods said he studies video and was introduced to proper techniques on the Prokicker.com website that has YouTube instructional videos available to watch.
“I want to have a career in kicking,” he said.
Woods is a prospect for the 2014 recruiting class.
Kyle Clark was the Top Prospect as a punter and kicker in the camp.
Here are camp competition results from the Charleston/Summerville, S.C., camp:
Long Distance Field Goal High School: Patrick Woods, 55 yards
Long Distance Field Goal High School: Evan Oldaker, 35 yards
Long Distance Kickoff: Austin Jordan, 74 yards, 3.62
Hang Time Punt: Truett Burns, 46 yards, 4.2
Out of Bounds Punt Right: Evan Oldaker
Out of Bounds Punt Left: Ryan Gilbreath
Fastest Single Snap: Michael Sulka and Jacob Copeland, 0.78
Most Accurate Snapper: Len Skubal
Top Prospects: Michael Sulka (long-snapper) and Kyle Clark (punter/kicker)
