Local kids excel in punt, pass and kick

ST. IGNATIUS — St. Ignatius Elementary School Student Izabel Evans was one of many who participated in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition in Missoula.

Evans, now in her fifth season doing this, she said she still is “nervous” when competing against a number of different competitors.

“The competition is pretty tough and it’s hard because there are a lot of girls to try to beat,” Evans said.

Evans, who finished 2-feet off first place, was one of many valley area boys and girls who participated in the event. Evans finished second in the 10 to 11-year old girls bracket with a combined kick of a 139 feet, four inches.

Evans, who practices three days a week with her father, has finished in first place in Missoula and Seattle in previous competitions, and finished 11th in the nation in previous competitions.

“It is always hard because I am always really nervous before these competitions,” Evans said. “I just kind of picture practicing with my dad when I am out there kicking.”

Evans said she would like to play football in high school though her mom doesn’t want her playing.

“I want to play football but I have brothers that play football and my brother broke his ankle,” Evans said. “My mom doesn’t want me to get hurt. Even though I can’t play in high school, I will be doing the punt, pass, and kick competition for the next three years.”

Every student at Mission High School is offered an opportunity to compete with the punt, pass, and kick competition as part of the physical education curriculum.

“What we do here in the Mission elementary school level is offer every student an opportunity to participate,” Mission Elementary School Coach Mark Cutler said. “We take the top one from each group who is eligible and she ended up getting second in the regional competition in Missoula.”

Cutler said she has invested several hours of practice and time at home to be successful in the competitions.

Other participants from Mission include Canyon Sargent, who finished second in the 10 to 11-year old boys’ bracket.

Addison Arlint finished first in the 14 to 15-year old girls bracket with kicks going a combined 233 feet, 1 inches.

For Arlint this is the third year that she competed in the punt, pass, and kick competition. Last year,Arlint placed second.

“This is the first time I placed first,” Arlint said. “Last year, when I placed second I just wanted to work harder to try to get first.”

On Monday night Arlint received a letter stating that she qualified for the Seattle competition.

“I will just practice a lot with my dad I wouldn’t be as nervous,” Arlint said. “When I got the (letter from Seattle) I was really excited and I just need to focus on doing what I know how to do when I get there.”

According to St. Ignatius teacher Trenna Ferris, students succeed at this for several reasons.

“Christy Krantz (7th grade pe teacher) and I host a local punt pass kick competition at our MS and HS,” Ferris said. “The kids get a chance to learn, practice, and develop their football skills during physical education class. Students that succeed are usually kids that have a positive attitude, work hard to get better, and enjoy playing football. They also have some background with basic skills and knowledge of the game. They also may have had coaches or teachers teach them correct technique, and parents that have taught them or played with them. Students must also be good under pressure because they are in front of their peers and adults while competing.”

Chiefs ‘continue tradition’ at PPK

Ronan High School middle school teacher Steve Woll has seen it all entering his 24th season of the Punt, Pass, and Kick competitions.

“In order to succeed, I think you obviously have to have a little bit of knowledge about football and that plays a small part in it,” Woll said. “You have to have athletic ability and the desire and willingness to compete and perform at that high level. It’s all about competing at a high level with confidence and being able to perform on those three stages.”

Woll has mentioned that Ronan has maintained a “strong tradition” in this competition. DeLonte Old Person finished first in the 6 to 7-year-old bracket with punts, passes, and kicks totaling 133 feet. Aubrey Krell had totals of 74 feet, 7 inches in the 6 or 7-year old girls division and finished second.

Connor Durglo finished third in the 8 to 9-year old bracket totaling 158 feet, 11 inches.

Macoa Jackson finished first in the 12 to 13-year-old girls division totaling 230 feet.

Darian Williams finished third in the 14 to 15-year-old boys division with 236 feet, eight inches.

“It’s kind of neat to see a lot of these, and even ones that you don’t coach, come through the ranks,” Woll said. “You will follow their career in the newspaper, even with teams that you coach against them. It’s pretty neat to follow.”

Woll’s approach to dealing with the nervous energy is to just ‘down-play’ the competition.

“We kind of play the competition down a little bit and just tell the kids ‘hey, go out and do your best,’” Woll said. “We don’t hype up the competition with going out there on a bigger stage. It’s even bigger when you are in Seattle in front of 65,000. That is the ultimate achievement to get there.”