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Reports out of WSU's fall camp indicate that we have a unexpected favorite in the kicker competition. Redshirt sophomore Erik Powell appears to leading so far after an unimpressive freshman season. He only converted 2 out of 5 field goals with a long of 26. With top recruit Matt Abramo arriving on campus, this is a very surprising devolpment. Which led me to ask, "just who is Erik Powell?"
Turns out Powell hails from Vancover, Wash. and was a two-time all-league selection at Seton Catholic High School. He was an even more impressive soccer player scoring an incredible 49 Goals (!) his senior year. He also has 10(!) siblings and is a second cousin of USC coach Steve Sarkisian.
Abramo has been in-and-out of fall practice according to reports. Powell appears to have taken advantage and has turned in some pretty good practices.
Erik Powell and Brett Schafer were the kickers today. Schafer missed from 40 but hit from 45. Powell made all his kicks, long of 45.
— Jacob Thorpe (@JacobThorpeSR) August 11, 2015
Powell does have some experience, so if he wins the job it won't be a completely new environment for him. Winning the job out of fall camp wouldn't be new either. He initially won the job out of fall camp last season too. He went 1-for-2 against Rutgers, missing from 50 yards. He struggled the following week against Nevada, making 1-of-3 attempts. He missed from 37 and 38 yards and didn't attempt another field goal the rest of the way.
He did handle kickoff duties and even recovered an onside kick.
So there is a little background on Mr. Powell. It appears that his soccer success may finally be transferring over to the gridiron. Who do you guys expect to be starting at kicker?
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