- Slug: Sports-Saguaro kicker, 700 words
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By Greg Macafee
Cronkite News
SCOTTSDALE — Three steps back, two steps to the left and one deep breath. Parker Lewis drills another field goal 40-plus yards through the uprights at Scottsdale Community College.
It’s a routine Lewis has become familiar with during the past two years since he switched from kicking soccer balls on the pitch to kicking footballs on the gridiron. Talk about a smooth transition. The Saguaro High School sophomore has surfaced as one of the top kickers and punters in the country.
He had played soccer for eight years, often finding himself carrying the ball up the right side of the field, from his wing position, and picking out teammates in the middle of the 18-yard box with pure precision
“I wanted to do something different and I thought that doing football would be really cool,” Lewis said. “Since kicking a soccer ball and kicking a football are kind of the same motion, I decided to be a kicker.”
Lewis, 16, began his football career in eighth grade, kicking field goals for a Pop Warner team in the Valley. He has quickly risen the ranks in kohlskicking.com’s national poll and is listed as the third-best kicker and fourth-best punter in the class of 2020.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound kicker recently began to show that even though he is only a sophomore, he can keep up with the best kickers around the country.
In July, Lewis traveled to kicking camps at Stanford and USC. Even though he was one of the youngest participants, he stood out, and at both camps won the field goal competition. He is becoming accustomed to the big-moment situations he experienced at USC and Stanford.
“I don’t think it affects me as much as it should,” Lewis said. “I’m really used to the pressure situations so I wasn’t nervous at all when I made it into the final three.”
After attending Brophy Prep his freshman year, Lewis and his family decided it was best for him to transfer to Saguaro. He joins a team that has won the Class 4A state championship the past four years.
“Brophy really just wasn’t the best fit for me,” Lewis said.
Because of transfer rules that were established by the Arizona Interscholastic Association in 2016-2017, Lewis must sit out the first five games of his football career at Saguaro. But through the first few weeks of practice, coach Jason Mohns already knows the type of player that he will have at his disposal.
“He’s one of the most impressive punters/kickers I’ve seen since I’ve started coaching high school football 11 years ago,” Mohns said. “I’ve seen some talented kids come through with some big legs and I think that’s one thing that makes him special is because he’s an athlete.”
Even with his talent and success at college camps, Parker may not see any scholarship offers for another year. Kickers are often the last recruits to receive offers. Mohns believes it could have to do with the amount of time they are on the field.
That doesn’t mean they don’t receive prestigious offers.
Arizona State kicker Brandon Ruiz was ranked as the top kicker in the nation last year according to chrissailerkicking.com and said he didn’t start receiving offers until midway through his junior year when he attended a camp at Tennessee.
“I got offered, then the next day I went to Alabama and I heard my coach Chris Sailor talking to coach (Nick) Saban saying, ‘Tennessee offered him yesterday’ and Coach Saban was like, ‘Good thing I don’t like Tennessee,’ ” Ruiz said about his college recruiting experience.
Ruiz ended up committing to Alabama before flipping his commitment and deciding to stay home and attend Arizona State.
Mohns believes Parker will hear from colleges soon.
“For a kid like Parker with length, athleticism and his ability, he probably won’t have to wait long,” Mohns said. “He’s not one of those country club-type kickers where he kicks then leaves. He’s willing to work, he’s jumped in on receiver drills and he conditions with us. So he’s got the desire to be great.”
