Published: February 21, 2009 11:40 pm      

Saint Francis is ‘perfect fit’ for Lazar

All-state kicker lands full-ride deal from NAIA power

The stakes in college football are so high that every yard counts, not just the ones gained by the offense.

“We’ll get roughly 25 special teams plays a game and there’s so much yardage involved in those plays, it’s really crucial,” said Saint Francis assistant coach Maury Waugh, who coordinates special teams for the NAIA power. “We’ve worked at it. We’ve been among the leaders in our conference in just about every category in the last couple years. We got good cover guys and all that, but you still got to have the guy who can kick it. That’s still the key.”

To that point, Saint Francis recently gave Western High School senior Jake Lazar a full-ride scholarship. Lazar is a three-time Kokomo Tribune All-Area kicker and a 2008 Class 3A all-state kicker.

“We’re delighted to have him,” Waugh said. “He is so talented and he takes it so seriously, the possibilities are almost limitless, I think, on how good he could really be in the future. We first saw him at our kicking camp last summer and he knocked them dead there, so we kind of followed his progress ever since then.”

At Western, Lazar made 21 field goals over three seasons.

The Panther product is excited about the opportunity to play at Saint Francis, which finished as the NAIA runner-up in 2004, ’05 and ’06 and reached the semifinal round in ’07 and ’08. Coach Kevin Donley owns a 114-23 record in 11 seasons at the school.

“First of all, they have a great football program and being able to start right away, both kicking off and punting, was a big impact for me,” Lazar said. “They had what I needed education-wise too. It was just a perfect fit. I went on a couple visits there and it felt right.

“I could have gone [NCAA] D-I, but they were either walk-on positions or partial [scholarships]. This way, I’m able to start right away and do both punting and kick offs. It’s a huge plus for me.”

Lazar received D-I interest as a kick off specialist. He routinely gave Western an edge in field position with his booming boots that occasionally went through the uprights.

“To have a weapon of Jake’s caliber means so much to a team,” Western coach Alix Engle said. “He put 97 or 98 percent of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, forcing the other team to go 80 yards and that made their playbook a little smaller.

“He is going to be greatly missed, but hopefully it’s one of those things where he has set the bar now and there are some youngsters who aspire to be the next Jake Lazar.”

In his one full season as the Panthers’ punter, Lazar averaged 33.8 yards per attempt.

At Saint Francis, Lazar has the inside track to handle kick offs and punts as a freshman. The Cougars return their place-kicker, but Lazar is a candidate to attempt long field goals too.

“He locks up that kicking leg and the ball just jumps off his foot,” Waugh said. “He has tremendous leg speed and leg strength.”

Lazar plans to major in physical education and health and minor in special education.

“It was a crazy process,” he said. “It feels great to get through it, but I really enjoyed it. It was a good thing to go through in life. It was good for my communication skills and everything.”