Such is the life of a college punter.
“When the other guys break into their position drills, I just try to find a spot to practice,” said Crawford, UMHB’s senior punter and a former lineman/punter/kicker at Academy. “Like when the defense is working on passing drills, they leave one half of the field clear. So the JV punter and I go over there and practice pooch punts.
“Then sometimes the kickers will go down and practice extreme angles on field goals, and then we’ll punt the ball back to them.”
Thus far, Crawford has made the most of his workspace. He has averaged 38.4 yards on 33 punts, with a long of 58. He has put 17 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and has had only one touchback.
“My problem in the past has always been consistency, so this year I’ve just been working on being more consistent,” he explained. “I’ve only had the one touchback, and that’s because of my teammates getting down there and making sure the ball doesn’t get into the end zone.”
To boost his performance for his senior season, Crawford dropped tennis - a sport he excelled at in high school and for which he earned two letters at UMHB.
“Tennis was my favorite in high school,” he said. “I liked football, but I had played tennis and soccer since I was really young.
“My first two years here, I went out for tennis after football drills were over in the spring. But last year I decided to just focus on football going into my senior season.”
Crawford’s focus is evident come gametime, when bobbled snaps are rare and he is yet to have a punt blocked.
“Before the ball is snapped, a teammate will call out if the defense is overloaded to one side,” he said. “And I always look myself to see if anybody’s trying to sneak in anywhere.
“Then I focus on the snap, but I can also see if anybody’s broken through to pressure me. That way I can angle my body a little bit to make sure he doesn’t get the ball.”
The Crusaders (6-1 overall, 5-0 American Southwest Conference) are ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division III and can take another step toward capturing their fourth consecutive ASC title with a win against East Texas Baptist (4-3, 4-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Marshall.
As such, Crawford has few complaints about his final college season.
“The only bad part so far has been when we lost last week (at Southern Oregon),” he said. “Other than that, I’ve been having a blast this season.
“I kind of miss being a high school lineman, but not so much that I want to play on the line here. These guys up here are a little bit bigger than they were in high school.”
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
