Football: Kickers runneth over at Notre Dame

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Is it good or bad when you visit a spring practice and notice that the best players are the kickers? Well, that was the case for my brief stop at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, where it’s pretty clear the Knights’ run on outstanding kickers is going to keep going.

The No. 1 kicker in college football is UCLA’s Kai Forbath, a Notre Dame grad. The Washington kicker is Erik Folk, another Notre Dame grad.

Last season, Notre Dame kicker Eric Solis beat Encino Crespi with a 51-yard field goal. He’s considering walking on at Colorado or Oregon.

But what I saw was another strong leg from junior-to-be Dylan Pritchard, an elite soccer player who started at punter and was booming kickoffs and field goals on Monday, along with senior-to-be Hayden Ross. Pritchard reminds me of Chris Sailer, another Notre Dame soccer player who ended up becoming an All-American kicker for UCLA.

‘I love soccer,’ Pritchard said.

But if he starts having success as a kicker, beware. And there are two other kickers coming up in Notre Dame’s program. Sophomore-to-be Alex Otero and incoming freshman Jackson Koonce are highly regarded, which means the Knights are loaded with kickers.

Now, if only they had a few more linemen, a wide receiver . . . . Knights are young but should get better. They host Ventura St. Bonaventure in a passing competition on Friday night.

-- Eric Sondheimer