Seeking results with the game on the line? Here’s the kicker

Prep Football: Team Within the Team

Stevenson’s Caden An kicked a 30-yard field goal to open the scoring against Sandburg in the Patriots’ Class 8A playoff opener, the only first-half points they needed.

In Week 9, An drilled a 38-yarder with no time left to tip Lake Zurich, 20-17. In Week 7 An’s 3 field goals alone would have beat Warren in a 16-7 victory.

Kicking — and when offense doesn’t pan out, punting — can lift a football team.

“It’s amplified here as we get into the playoffs,” said Stevenson coach Brent Becker, whose squad visits Glenbard East on Friday, each team 9-1.

“It’s an opportunity to put points on the board with your field goal and PAT team, it’s an opportunity to change field position whether it’s your punt team or your kickoff team or kick return. It’s such an important part of the game,” Becker said.

Unlike Patriots rugby-style punter and tailback Christopher “Fatman” Thorndyke (yes, Stevenson’s roster lists the 165-pounder as Fatman, a nickname his father hung on him in infancy), An is a specialist with several Chris Sailer Kicking camps scheduled.

A three-year varsity kicker as a junior, this season An is 8-for-8 on field goals -- his longest conversion was a 38-yarder. His kickoffs go for touchbacks about 60% of the time, Becker said.

As a veteran kicker, An can work through the process’ subtleties with short snapper Aiden Langer and holder Lucas Spohn.

“My snapper and holder, they’re excellent,” An said. “They’re always working before practice, after practice getting snaps in, perfecting their game which is already fantastic.”

Langer’s keys are delivering the snap quickly with a tight spiral that hits a target.

“For my job it’s where the actual snap ends up,” said Langer, a center on the offensive line. “(Spohn) flashes his hand really quick, and I’ve got to hit that hand. It’s all about time and consistency and if it’s not perfect, that kick isn’t perfect.”

A fullback and cornerback as well, Spohn grabs the hot snap and in a millisecond rotates the football with its laces facing away from An. The process hasn’t been botched all season.

“Timing’s huge,” Spohn said. “Between the three of us, if our timing isn’t perfect the kick, it’s not going to be good. It’s down to every single part … it’s all up to the three of us to time it perfectly and that’s something that we really focus on.”

An admits to feeling pressure in situations like the Lake Zurich game.

He uses calming techniques like visualization, breathing exercises — “I take a really quick, deep breath and then (exhale for) 8 seconds to slow my heart rate down,” he said — and simply jumping up and down to stay loose.

“I’ve learned a lot of tactics to kind of get myself ready to deal with that pressure, but obviously it’s still one of the hardest things, in my opinion the hardest thing to overcome,” An said.

Punter Thorndyke and long snapper Zach Hersh picked up those positions this season in addition to their starting roles at tailback and receiver, respectively.

Thorndyke has vast kicking experience, though — a six-year rugby player, he will continue in that sport after high school.

He’s worked to “put more of the football-style spin” on his punts, with the team goal of gaining 30 yards of territory on each punt.

“I basically want to pin them on the sideline as far back as possible,” Thorndyke said. “So if we’re on our (50-yard) line I’ll try to get it down to the 10 but on the sideline so our defense can pin him into the sideline so he can’t return it or get a good return out of it.”

Hersh got help on his inverted, two-handed spin to the punter from Tom Baumann, Stevenson’s first head football coach and now an assistant. Hersh likes being a “gunner” after the snap, sprinting downfield toward the punt returner.

“I don’t know the last game we’ve had a team return a punt. It’s a fair catch or it’s hitting the ground. So it’s about minimizing any big plays, it’s about field position,” Hersh said.

“Winning the field position game is huge, especially when it’s coming to close games. That can be the game.”