Without a lot of fanfare, Brossart football fans have been treated to some of the finest place-kicking, possibly in the State, pretty much throughout the history of our football program.
Extra Points and Field Goals are a team effort. While the kicker gets the credit for makes, and misses are held against him, a good snap, a good hold, and a good line, keeping out potential kick blockers are all part of the equation. Tyler Holtz has served as the holder for both Tyler Smith and Max Runge. Nathan Schalk was the holder for Andrew Schwartz during his senior season.
In the process of writing a story about our Place Kicker success, I reached out to our resident Brossart Football historian, Joey Martin, to provide some clarification for some of our earlier kickers. Man, did I receive some eye-opening info.
What I learned was that our accuracy in kicking extra points and field goals was not a come lately thing, but that dating all of the way back to the program’s infancy, we have been blessed with kickers who knocked home “Plus Ones” and Field Goals at least a 67% clip, dating back to 2009 when we began keeping the stat.
In 2009 Ryan Morrison went 22 of 26 PATs, and was 2 of 2 on Field Goals. In 2010, our first hybrid kicker (played on both the Soccer and Football Teams), Sophomore Jordan Frommeyer, was 23 of 26 and 2 of 2. When not available due to soccer commitments, Ryan Enzweiler stood in for Frommeyer and hit 3 of 4 extra points, and was also 2 of 2 on Field-Gaal attempts. In 2011, his Junior season, Frommeyer and Jesse Orth combined to knock home 17 of 24 PAT attempts. They did not attempt a Field Goal. In his senior season, 2012, Frommeyer teamed up with Freshman Frankie Cetrulo to tack on 10 of 12 PATs and Fro was 1 of 2 in the Field Goal department. Cetrulo took over the kicking duties in 2013, 2014 and 2015 , contributing 59 of 77 tack-ons. He kicked one field goal in one attempt during that time span. During Cetrulo’s Junior year, Garrett Ahlbrand went 4 of 5 PATs with no Field Goal Attempts. Sophomore Bryce Donnelly went 0 for 1 during Cetrulo’s Senior season, was 1 of 1 in 2016, and 0 for 1 in 2017. It must have been in his contract to attempt one PAT per season.
2016 was the third year of the Paul Wiggins era. We had put our 2A experiences behind us and were coming off of a 9 and 2 campaign in our first year back in Class 1A. Senior Jake Sendelbach transferred over from Soccer to Football and became our primary PAT specialist. He had plenty of opportunities as the 8-3 Mustangs averaged 34 points per game. Sendelbach capitalized, hitting on 37 of 44 attempts, setting a new school record for Most Extra Points in a Season with 37, a number that still stands today.
In 2017, Junior Bryan Duffy who had also defected from Soccer the previous year, took over the kicking duties and put his mark on the program going 38 of 50 in the PAT department and 6 of 10 on field-goal attempts during his two year stint as our primary Place-Kicker. David Govan was the backup in 2018, hitting 5 of 7 PATs without attempting a field goal.
In 2019, Sophomore Andrew Schwartz took over and held down the PAT kicking responsibilities for three seasons – 2019, 2020, and 2021. During that three year span, Schwartz hit on 63 of 86 attempts, but did not attempt a Field Goal. David Govan, Eli Thompson, and Alejandro Arguelles were the only other Mustangs to attempt an extra point. Govan’s came in 2019 and he missed it. Thompson was 1 of 2 in 2020, and Arguelles was 1 for 1 in 2021. Since that time, beginning in 2021 and extending to the present day, Brossart Place-kickers, Schwartz, Tyler Smith, and Max Runge are 103 for 112 – an “Envy of any team in the Commonwealth,” 91.9%.
In 2022, Smith as a Junior, hit on 25 of 27 tack-ons during the season – 92.5%, and then topped that effort last year during his Senior Season going a perfect 23 of 23. During that same time span, Reid Thompson hit on 4 of 5 when Smith was not available due to Soccer commitments.
This season to date we have been treated to a 27 of 28 Extra Point exhibition by Junior Max Runge. Both Smith and Runge are multi-faceted Soccer-Football players. Tyler Smith holds the school record for Most Field Goals, hitting 10 of them in 2022 (10 of 17). Smith also threw in 21 touchbacks during his two-year football career.
Since we began keeping records back in 2009, to date our Mustang Place-Kickers have connected on 364 of 452 attempts for a blistering 80.5%
ALL-TIME PROGRAM LEADERS
Frank Cetrulo: 67-85 – 79% – 1-1 FGs
Andrew Schwartz: 63-86 – 73% – 0-0 FGs
Tyler Smith: 48-50 – 96% – 13-23 FGs
Bryan Duffy: 38-50 – 76% – 6-10 FGs
Jake Sendelbach: 37-44 – 84% – 1-2 FGs
Jordan Frommeyer: 33-39 – 85% – 3-4 FGs
Ryan Morrison: 22-26 – 85% – 2-2 FGs