Kicking System Blog

Peter Abe, Irvine High School Football, Special Teams Coordinator“John Matich and The Kicking System provide a great opportunity for kickers and punters of all ages to refine their skills. With a strong focus on fundamentals and sound practice, Coach Matich develops unique workouts that meet the individual needs of our kickers and punters. Each time he works with our athletes immediate results are seen, and our kickers come away with specifics that can help them improve their game.

We did not play this past weekend at Tri-Valley Almeada(Oakland).  The determined the field would not hold up for up to play.  I guess it gives us more time to prepare for Wyoming this weekend at home.  This will be the biggest game of the year for us.

On another note, I finally graduated from Grad School from USF (MA in Sports Managemnt). It was a great cermony and nice to be with friends and family.  I cam back on Saturday. Sunday was the longest of the year I was on the field from 8am till 7pm with private lessons. I cant complain, I love to coach and help these kickers continue to make progress.

Its nice to be able to put some more focus on TKS and continue to develop some more business items.  I am preparing for a camp in Toledo, Ohio for June 2nd. Last years camps was great and seems more people have signed up for it this year.

John Matich

The tagline on San Bernardino Bucking Bulls website urges you to, “Come run with the Bulls.” Shockwave running back Tyrone Evans was more than happy to oblige, rushing for 4 touchdowns for the second consecutive game leading the way to a 56 - 15 Shockwave victory over San Bernardino on Saturday night. Evans’ touchdowns all came on first half runs of one, 4, 3 and one yard, respectively. He finished with a productive 62 yards on 15 carries.

San Diego continued its domination of their Southland rivals, going to 5 - 0 on the season against LA, Pomona and San Bernardino thus far and 6 - 1 overall. After stopping the Bucking Bulls on their initial drive, the Shockwave got on the scoreboard first at 11:30 of the first quarter when quarterback Matt Pound connected with Deondre Alexander on a 34 yard touchdown pass. John “Auto” Matich’s extra point was good. He converted all 8 PAT opportunities.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Bucking Bulls marched down the field, settling for a 28 yard Jaime Cortez field goal at the 6:05 mark of the first quarter. The Shockwave would start to pull away, on the first of Tyrone Evans’ runs, the first a one yard run at the 4:05 mark of the quarter. Defensive back David Beverly would fall on linebacker Rico Curtis’ blocked field goal in the end zone to make it 21 - 3 at the end of the quarter.

Then Evans went to work, scoring three unanswered touchdowns ending the first half with a commanding 42 - 3 lead.

San Bernardino actually came out kicking in the third quarter, outscoring the Shockwave 12 - 7 to narrow the score to 49 - 15. Quarterback Mark Wilson scored on a one yard sneak and Shin Black recovered a blocked field goal attempt in the Shockwave end zone for a touchdown.

But it was too little too late. The Shockwave added two second half touchdowns when newly signed quarterback Ben Bowling connected with wide receiver Nakoa McElrath twice to win the game going away, 56 - 15.

Overall it was a good effort on both sides of the ball for the Shockwave. Defensive lineman Ricky Leungwai continued his march toward a sack record with 2 more sacks; Wallace Thomas and Andre Reed each added one.

The 6 - 1 first-place Shockwave face another tough road test this next Saturday May 19th, the Tri-Valley Ranchers in Alameda County. ”It was a good defensive effort for us against a good team,” said Coach Edwards. “We have another tough road game ahead and there’s some adjustments we’ll make for Tri-Valley. But we’re looking forward to the rematch with Wyoming the week after and continuing our march toward an NIFL championship.”

I have to say I never kicked 11 straight extra points in one game. I felt good out there and have to say it was my best game of the season.  My kickoffs felt good as I was hitting the endzone most of the time with good hang time.  I hit the scoreboard again about half way up this time. I didnt think I could hit the ball that high.  We won 77-6 and we are playing Saturday at San Bernadino.

It was nice to get back on track, I missed the last game becuase of poor field conditions. Coach Bees mentioned to me that we were not going to kick any field goals and not suit up a kicker in order to field another player.    Stever Terrill kicked a few extra points and squibbed a few kickoffs. Steve is a DB on the team. He did a great job, the last time he kicked was in HS.  There was not enough room to kick any field goals, the light were to close to the field.

I have my master project presentation this week and I will be graduating from Grad school this week.  I cant wait, I can then focus more on The Kicking System.

So far on the season 4-6 field goals and 28-29 extra points. Not bad for getting back in the game.

John Matich