You don't know what I'm talking about? You said he had several FG's over 50 yards, with a long of 53. Didn't you? Well he's made 8 of them this year, and I've found 6 of them in box scores and the long of those is 40 yards. Hmm?

 

 

Dude, when you're the best team in NKY and you've got the greatest backfield since Craig James and Eric Dickerson, you don't kick FGs.

By the way, congrats to Ross for being named the 2nd Team Kicker on the No. KY Team by the KY Post. :thumb:

 

Let me back you up on the congrats. Solid , solid kicker. It would be sweet to see him nail the game winner on Thursday night.

Are you talking about Ross Uminger? The kid is a solid high school kicker, but doesn't have the range Popham has.

I heard both Shane and Ross went to the same Ray Guy camp last summer. I understand about 1,000 kids go through those camps throughout the country over the summer. If you look at the rankings on prokicker.com, Shane is 13th and Ross is 18th nationally. It rained hard both days, no handicap was factored in. Ross made all 10 of his evaluation FGs, includes two from 50, Shane made 9 of his. Both kicked a soaked heavy leather ball on a wet field. You will see very few make even 9/10 in good weather. Both had their kickoff hang times and distance reduced by weather or they would be top 10 or top 5. We are fortunate to have two great kickers in N Ky.

Following Ryle, Ross has had to kick in rain and mud for much of the year and has done great. The Holmes game at Ryle was amazing, pouring rain, mud so bad there was no way to lock his plant foot, looked like a controlled slide. Into a stiff wind. And he was 6/6 on PATs, 2/2 on 30 yrd FGs. These things do not show in the stats. He is actually perfect on extra points that were in his control, now somewhere around 50/50 with the playoffs. The misses that show in the stats incl blocks, fumbled sanps, even a snap over the holders head at Boone which Ross ran back to recover. About range, have seen him kick >55 yds in warmups in good weather.

Shane has had a great year and has taken advantage of his opportunities. Shane's stats do his talking, and Shane deserves all the credit he is getting. Congrats Shane on a great year.

I also see many colleges who would improve themselves with our NKY kickers!

Both are top kickers and I wish them both well!

NKF, thanks for the info.

For what it's worth, I've been doing the KNN Scoreboard Show for 5 seasons, and prior to this year, no Kicker was ever named player of the week. This season it happened twice.

Both times it was Shane Popham.

Kentucky should be looking at this kid too. He could seriously upgrade thier kicking game just by walking on the field.

I heard both Shane and Ross went to the same Ray Guy camp last summer. I understand about 1,000 kids go through those camps throughout the country over the summer. If you look at the rankings on prokicker.com, Shane is 13th and Ross is 18th nationally. It rained hard both days, no handicap was factored in. Ross made all 10 of his evaluation FGs, includes two from 50, Shane made 9 of his. Both kicked a soaked heavy leather ball on a wet field. You will see very few make even 9/10 in good weather. Both had their kickoff hang times and distance reduced by weather or they would be top 10 or top 5. We are fortunate to have two great kickers in N Ky.

Following Ryle, Ross has had to kick in rain and mud for much of the year and has done great. The Holmes game at Ryle was amazing, pouring rain, mud so bad there was no way to lock his plant foot, looked like a controlled slide. Into a stiff wind. And he was 6/6 on PATs, 2/2 on 30 yrd FGs. These things do not show in the stats. He is actually perfect on extra points that were in his control, now somewhere around 50/50 with the playoffs. The misses that show in the stats incl blocks, fumbled sanps, even a snap over the holders head at Boone which Ross ran back to recover. About range, have seen him kick >55 yds in warmups in good weather.

Shane has had a great year and has taken advantage of his opportunities. Shane's stats do his talking, and Shane deserves all the credit he is getting. Congrats Shane on a great year.

I also see many colleges who would improve themselves with our NKY kickers!

Both are top kickers and I wish them both well!

 

Some of these misses you referred to should have not been counted. A miss is either wide right, etc. or a block. The kick must take place. A bad snap that the holder falls on, or picks up becomes a rushing attempt for the holder and does not factor in with the "misses." The Ray Guy camps have produced some great kickers in NCAA and the NFL. Bell Co.'s young sophomore kicker was well ranked in several catagories and is #1 in nation in two catagories and #2 in the other for Class of 2009 kickers this year at Guy's camp. The 2005 camp leading sophomore from Texas moved up to #1 in nation in his junior year this year. Will be interesting how the returning Kentucky kickers fare at Ray Guy next year. FYI, one of the kicking instructors at Bowling Green camp was the Michigan State punter who is a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy college punter of year award in 2006. I wish the kickers still in the hunt great success in the finals!

Popham mentioned in Jody Demling's blog from the State Championship games:

 

Popham is unreal!

 

The state of Kentucky is blessed with three sensational senior kickers this season - all might end up getting Division I scholarships which is unheard of for a kicker.

 

Trinity's Ryan Tydlacka has a great leg and is probably the best punter of the bunch. He's committed already to the University of Kentucky on a full ride.

 

Bowling Green's Casey Tinius is also really good and hearing from a lot of Division I schools but still doesn't have an offer.

 

And then there's Covington Catholic's Shane Popham. Wow, the kid is great! The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Popham has a tremendous leg. He kicked two field goals in the Class AAA final win over Bowling Green and finished the season with 18 field goals - a new state record.

 

Popham also had 49 for his career - also a state record.

 

And before kickoff of the title game he received a nice text message - wishing him well from the staff at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are among the schools heavily recruiting Popham, along with Florida, Harvard and several others.

 

"I'm not dead set on anything yet," Popham said. "I'm just waiting for an offer and then we will see. I'm excited we finished the season off with a win."

Where did Shane kick these mysterious other 31 field goals? Come on Jody, it's been on BGP 1,000 times that he only had the chance to kick as a Senior because of Tony and Awadalla.

FYI, Pop kicking at ND (as a ND-hater) would be AWESOME!!!! Obviously, as would Florida.

FYI, Pop kicking at ND (as a ND-hater) would be AWESOME!!!! Obviously, as would Florida.

As an ND fan I would absolutely love it too!!!!!!!!

I agree about ND. Talk about living the dream. I still feel that that's the route Awadalla should've gone.

I'd love to see Popham at ND. He'd have a very legit chance of kicking all 4 years. Also add a great education too. :ylsuper:

Where did Shane kick these mysterious other 31 field goals? Come on Jody, it's been on BGP 1,000 times that he only had the chance to kick as a Senior because of Tony and Awadalla.

It is my understanding that only varsity field goals, TD's, rushing yardage, etc. are counted toward career totals. Freshman and JV do not apply. Was he including those in Popham's career stats?

It is my understanding that only varsity field goals, TD's, rushing yardage, etc. are counted toward career totals. Freshman and JV do not apply. Was he including those in Popham's career stats?

That was my point. His career stats are this year's stats.

Please go to Notre Dame!!! Charlie, if you have a brain, please sign this kid now! Way to go Colonels and I hope Shane is headed to South Bend.