It’s not very often we praise special teams players, let alone kickers. Normally kickers only come in the limelight in negative or infamous ways. Freshman kicker and local star out of the Dayton, Centerville area #16 Andrew Gantz is an exception. He is off to a fantastic year.
We can now forget about the troubled Tony Miliano from last year. As a junior, Miliano went 7/17 (41%) on the season kicking field goals. This is rather peculiar given that during his freshman and sophomore seasons he combined for 34/47 (72%) on field goal attempts. Regardless, UC now has a stud field goal kicker for the next four years.
On the season, Gantz is now 9/10 (90%) on field goals, and accounts for 54 total points. He is 2/2 between 40 – 49 yards, with a long of 46 yards. He is also 27/29 (93%) on PATs. Not to mention, the 5-foot-9, 158 lb. Mr. Andrew Gantz is on a roll earning not one, but two, AAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards in back-to-back weeks against SMU and USF! Congrats good sir!
Mentally speaking, I am glad Gantz is having a successful season. All too often we see stars coming out of high school having a bad freshman season and never recovering from a mental perspective despite having all the physical tools.
The Bearcats may have some position issues this year, but field goal kicking is NOT one of them. I’m not saying Andrew Gantz is the next Adam Vinatieri, but he is a special teams security blanket similar to former UC punter Kevin Huber booting the ball down the field.
By Technical Writer: Andy Smith