By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Zach Burgy-Vanhoose was identified in the Prokicker.com talent search two years ago as a rising sophomore.
Now, as a rising senior, the Pikeville, Ky., kicker is among the best in the nation.
Burgy-Vanhoose charted during the Prokicker.com camp at Huntington High School over the weekend. Staff member Logan O’Connor, who did the charting for Burgy-Vanhoose two years ago, was impressed with his improvement.
“I remember two years ago he did good on kickoffs and not as good on field goals,” O’Connor said. “But (Saturday) he went 9 of 10 for 90 percent. He came to chart and that’s going to help him out.”
Burgy-Vanhoose displayed the same kind of leg strength he’s always had, O’Connor said.
“What I tell him every time I work with him is it doesn’t matter how far if you can’t kick it straight,” O’Connor said. “I can tell he’s worked on some of the drills we’ve showed him. His accuracy is much improved.”
kicker Caleb Keeton and combo kicker Tyler Schiefelbein were also identified as top prospects in the talent search by the staff in Huntington.
Keeton, a rising senior, struck the ball well and consistently put his kickoffs into the end zone, “which is what you want for high school,” O’Connor said.
“He came in and had really good ball contact, always hitting the ball clean,” he said. “It’s good when someone comes in and has a technical base. I can tell he’s been working at it.”
Keeton was disappointed with a 7-for-10 performance on field goal charting but O’Connor said two of the misses were achingly close.
“He was real close to doing better,” O’Connor said. “He’s got a good leg, makes good ball contact. I like him a lot.”
Schiefelbein was a combo kicker but O’Connor identified him a top prospect for h is punting.
“He kicked fairly well but his punting is what stood out to me,” he said. “He started out a little slow (punting) but really turned it around. His last seven or eight kicks were great kicks in the 44-and-above category with good hang time on all of those.”
The Huntington camp also featured Ohio State University kicker Drew Basil, who O’Connor said is going to be a great instructor. Long-snapping guru Ben Fuller was the camp coordinator.
“These camps are so good,” O’Connor said. “Rick (Sang, camp director) brings in a lot of top-quality people, like Drew and Ben. The kids who come to these camps will walk away with some good information on how to get better.”
Go to Prokicker.com for a listing of the summer camp schedule.
