Petal has probably surprised a few people this season. Most will point to the Panthers’ balanced offense and stingy defense as reasons why the team is currently 5-3 and in second place in Region 3-6A.
What might go unnoticed at times is the job seniors Blake Craig and Seth Williamson have done on special teams in the kicking game. Panther head coach Marcus Boyles is quick to give them credit, though. Their impact on a game-by-game basis might not jump out at you, but it’s there.
“Everybody wants to talk about offense and defense,” Boyles said. “But the third component of that is special teams. We feel like every Friday night we go out there, we have a chance to win the special teams battle.”
That starts and ends with Craig at kicker and Williamson at punter, two of most-improved players, regardless of position, on this Petal team.
“I’m going to give credit to those two guys. They have really developed themselves,” Boyles added. “They’ve gone to a lot of camps and spent endless hours working on kicking on their own. They have become really good weapons for us.”
Through eight games, Craig is 29-for-33 on extra points and 4-for-4 on field goals, including a game-winning 25-yarder in overtime against Brandon. Not a lot of distance, but there’s no denying the pressure in a game of that magnitude.
“Everybody thought that was a chip shot,” Boyles said. “Yeah, it’s a chip shot, but everybody is looking at you. All the pressure is on you, because if you miss that, we probably lose that football game.”
The moment was not too big for Craig, as the final score, 31-28, indicates.
“I knew it was big, but mostly, I try to treat all my field goals the same,” Craig said. “I knew it was short, so I didn’t really think I would miss it. I was feeling pretty confident about it.”
“I didn’t really celebrate. I just walked off the field. But when I looked at the scoreboard, I was like, ‘Did we just win off that?’”
Williamson had a big kick for Petal in that game, too. Tied at 28-28 with less than a minute left in regulation and Petal facing a fourth down at their own 10-yard line, Williamson was called in to punt nearly from the end zone. A short kick there would have given Brandon great field position and a chance to win it in regulation. There was no short kick, though, as Williamson connected on a 50-yarder that allowed Petal’s defense an easier opportunity to force overtime.
“Seth has flipped the field for us a couple times,” Boyles said. “Then against Brandon, when we’re deciding whether to punt from our own 10, he booms it and knocks it to the other 40. Makes it hard for them to go the distance in a few seconds.”
“I’ve come a long way. A long way,” Williamson said. “Freshman year, I was pretty nervous to punt. My head was up a lot. But behind the snapper now, I feel comfortable on the field. Freshman year, I was scared to death. But now, I love it.”
Craig is the same way, and that shows in the way they’ve kicked the ball all season for these Panthers.
“We’ve both been here for four years,” Craig concluded. “We both come to every practice and just put in the work. It shows.”
