What’s THE Difference? : It’s Only Hard to Tell When Ackerson, Ehmke Tee Up the Football

When sizing up Tyler Ackerson and Rich Ehmke, they appear to have little in common.

They don’t look alike. Ackerson stands 6-feet 2-inches, and his lean frame has room for more weight than the 195 pounds it carries. Ehmke, at 5-10, 160, is more compact.

Their personalities are 180-degrees apart. To say Ackerson is quiet and shy is an understatement. For him, a two-word sentence is an oration. Ehmke will talk your ear off. Ask him a question, any question, and his answer will fill a notebook.

Ehmke is from the East County and a traveler of sorts. He attended three high schools--El Cajon Valley, Granite Hills and Valhalla--in four years. He attended Southwestern College last year as a freshman, and is now at Grossmont College for his sophomore year. In between, he tried to land a scholarship at several four-year universities.

Ackerson is from the South Bay and prepped at Hilltop. He’s a freshman at Southwestern and plans to complete two years of education there before moving on to a four-year school.

But these two do have a common bond. It’s in their feet--the right ones, to be exact. Ackerson and Ehmke handle the kicking duties at their respective schools. Both are soccer-style kickers and they figure to have something else in common by the time their community college days are over--plenty of offers from major-college recruiters.

Ehmke is the state’s leading scorer among junior college kickers with 73 points. His 16 field goals in 23 attempts, including a 52-yarder, have surpassed the school’s previous best for field goals in a season (8) and a career (14). The state record for career field goals is 20 is within reach. Ehmke has two regular-season games remaining.

He has kicked nine in the last three games, and three weeks ago he established a junior college record for field goals in one quarter when he kicked five in the second period of a 29-22 win over Antelope Valley. Only one of them was a chip shot as he hit from 38, 33, 38, 42 and 25 yards. He also missed from 33 and 47 yards in that game.

Ehmke, who has converted 25 of 27 point-after kicks, also is effective on kickoffs. He has reached the end zone on 43 of 51 kicks.

Ackerson’s numbers aren’t quite as impressive, but the distances from which he hits have drawn attention. He’s 25 of 25 on conversions, and 10 of 15 on field goals. However, three of them were from more than 50 yards, including a school-record 59-yarder against Imperial Valley. In practice, he regularly hits from 64 yards, and once made a 70-yarder.

His kickoffs consistently reach or sail over the end zone. Of 48 kickoffs, only seven have been returned--and one of those was intentional.

“He kicked nine straight out of the end zone against Imperial Valley,” Coach Bob Mears said. “The last one didn’t reach the goal line and they returned it. I found out later that the guys on the kicking team asked him to just punch it so they could get some practice.”

Ehmke is enjoying a dream season, and his success has gone beyond his expectations.

“You can’t expect to have a season like this,” he said. “I was hoping to average one, maybe one-and-a-half field goals a game. It has been great the way things have turned out.”

If it hadn’t been for fate, he might not have had the chance to experience such a banner year.

He had hoped to transfer to a four-year school after one year of junior college football. But he didn’t receive any offers after a making just 6 of 15 field goals at Southwestern.

During the summer he took a bus to Oklahoma where he tried to catch on at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

“But Oklahoma already had a kicker and Oklahoma State told me to come back in the fall and maybe something could be worked out,” Ehmke said. “I couldn’t wait until then, so I came back here to play at Grossmont.”

One of the reasons he selected Grossmont was because he knew Ackerson was headed for Southwestern.

Grossmont Coach Jim Symington is happy Ehmke returned to the East County.

“He’s a great offensive weapon, and he’s added a new dimension to our offense,” he said. “It’s nice to know you don’t have to go for a touchdown every time the offense gets into the opponent’s territory.

“Before, we used the field goal as a last resort. But Rich has been so consistent that it’s almost like a guaranteed three points each time we get inside the 30. It’s always nice to score a touchdown, but coming away with three points is a lot better than coming away empty-handed.”

And Symington is confident the recruiters will be swarming around Ehmke when the season is over.

“Rich is a legitimate major-college kicker,” he said. “He has great technique and he’ll be highly recruited. What he has done this season is no fluke.”

Ehmke, who didn’t start kicking until he was a high school freshman and has never worked with a kicking coach, hopes Symington is right.

“Mainly, I’m looking for a good education,” Ehmke said, “but I want to play for a team with a strong offense. I’d like to get out of California. I’ve lived here all 19 years of my life, and I’d like to see another part of the country.”

Does that mean he wouldn’t be interested in an offer from San Diego State?

“Oh, no,” he said. “I’m keeping all avenues open.”

Ackerson has a couple of roads to choose from. Unlike Ehmke, Ackerson has an interest besides kicking. He’s also a baseball player--and a good one.

He was an All-Metro League first-team outfielder last spring at Hilltop. He batted .350 and hit five home runs while playing a key role in Hilltop’s drive to the San Diego Section 2-A championship. He plans to continue his baseball career at Southwestern in the spring.

Ackerson wants a scholarship to a four-year school. And it doesn’t make a difference if it’s for football or baseball.

“It wouldn’t matter to me whether it’s in football or baseball,” he said. “I enjoy both sports, and I just hope I can continue playing both of them for a few more years.”

Mears believes Ackerson has great potential.

“Tyler can go as far as he wants to in kicking,” he said. “He needs to improve on his accuracy, but he’s got the strongest leg I’ve ever seen. If he concentrated on kicking year-round, there’s no telling how good he might be. He’ll get a lot of offers from big schools if he continues kicking like he has been.”

Ackerson’s biggest kick of the season was a 51-yard field goal against Palomar with 1:51 left in the game to give Southwestern a 17-16 win. But Mears was more impressed with his kicker on the ensuing kickoff.

“After he made the field goal, the entire team ran on the field and mobbed him,” Mears recalled. “The officials gave us a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, so that meant Tyler had to kick off from our 25.

“Their return guy caught the ball straddling the goal line. That means Tyler kicked the ball 75 yards in the air. And it was a high kick, too. We tackled the ball carrier at Palomar’s 16-yard line.”

With the exception of his record 59-yard field goal, Ackerson has quite a way to go before he’ll own all of Southwestern’s kicking records. But two marks are within reach.

One field goal in the Apaches’ two remaining games would give him 11, which will be a single-season record. The career mark is 18, which he’ll take aim at next year.

Ackerson and Ehmke also have one more thing in common. Both Southwestern and Grossmont have 7-1 records and, barring upsets, will finish either first or second in the Mission and Foothill conferences, respectively.

If they do, they will probably meet Dec. 6 in the first San Diego Bowl. The game will feature at least one and possibly two local teams.

Someone suggested the two clubs should play anyway. Even if it’s just for kicks.