Jumbo Kickers Tip the Scales With Feats

It is not unusual for Joe Heinz to be knocking heads in a high school football game. He does that plenty when he is playing offensive tackle for Chula Vista High.

Earlier this season, however, Heinz got in a hit to remember after he had kicked off to Granite Hills.

Kicked off?

That’s right. Joe Heinz, a 6-foot 3 1/2-inch, 305-pounder, kicks off for Chula Vista.

Maybe it seems strange to think of a kicker knocking players around like he is Mike Tyson. But it’s easy when that kicker is Joe Heinz.

The way Heinz tells it, Granite Hills sent three players after him after he kicked off. With one swipe of his forearm, Heinz said he knocked two of the would-be blockers to the ground.

The third, as Heinz said, “just kinda stepped out of the way.”

Heinz is not the only giant kicker in San Diego County. He falls into a group that has an increasingly large number of large members in the county . . . Jumbo kickers.

Guys such as 225-pound German Puentes of Morse and 6-foot 4-inch, 220-pound Brent Woodall of La Jolla kick for their teams, as well as playing other positions.

Puentes kicked a 56-yard field goal last season against Mira Mesa, a San Diego Section record. He has kicked a 47-yarder this season.

But Puentes tore two ligaments in his knee when he slipped on wet grass while attempting a field goal two weeks ago against Serra. Morse Coach John Shacklett said Puentes, a junior who also was a starting offensive lineman, will be out 10 months but should be ready for next season.

Woodall kicked one of the longest field goals this season, a 47-yarder last Friday against Kearny. Earlier in the season, he kicked a 45-yard field goal to beat University, 10-7. He also has a 65-yard punt.

Heinz has not tried a field goal. But after his first three kickoffs in the first game of the season against Madison were airborne only about 10 yards and went out of bounds every time, all but five of Heinz’s 35 kickoffs have been inside the 10-yard line. No team has returned a kickoff past the 35 against Chula Vista.

“Before our game, Heinz was kicking every one in the end zone,” said Southwest Coach Carl Parrick, whose team played Chula Vista last Friday. “I was surprised that he kicked that well. I told my kick returner to get back farther than usual.”

Said Heinz: “I guess you don’t see too many kickers like me. But when people see me, they say, ‘Hey, man, this guy kicks!’ ”

Said Woodall: “Yeah, some guys have said I’m not exactly built to be a kicker.”

The first image that comes to mind when high school kickers are mentioned is that of soccer players who moonlight as football players.

Normally, size would be a limiting factor because of the agility and quickness it takes to kick soccer-style.

But these guys can do it because they are all-around athletes with quick feet.

Despite his size, Puentes was quick enough to be one of the best players on the Morse soccer team as a sophomore. He would have played this season, too, Shacklett said, had he not been injured.

In addition to kicking and punting, Woodall starts at tailback and linebacker for La Jolla. Woodall rushed for 115 yards last Friday. The 47-yard field goal in that game cleared the goal post by 10 to 15 yards, according to both Woodall and La Jolla Coach Gene Edwards.

“He’s got a great leg,” Edwards said. “He’s got really great feet.”

Woodall did not kick at the start of the season because Edwards figured the only time he could rest him would be on punts and kickoffs. Sophomore Mike Wollaeger punted and kicked instead.

When Wollaeger got sick during the Mission Bay game three weeks ago, Woodall replaced him and made all four conversion attempts. Edwards has not considered replacing Woodall during kicking situations since.

The Chula Vista offensive line coach, Gary Chapman, said Heinz has no bounds to what he could accomplish athletically. He is the designated hitter on the Chula Vista baseball team.

“He could be a basketball player, anything he wanted to be,” Chapman said. “He is a skilled athlete who just happens to be in a big body.”

Some of this athleticism might be because Puentes, Woodall and Heinz share a common background. They played soccer as youths.

“Since soccer has become popular in the U.S., all these guys learned to kick with the side of their foot from the time they played (American Youth Soccer Organization) little league soccer,” Edwards said. “You don’t see too many big soccer players because of the quickness required to be good. That’s why you get mostly small kickers because most teams pick up their kickers off the soccer team and most of those guys aren’t 6-4.”

Edwards’ kicker, Woodall, played soccer for 10 years before he started playing football. Punting was especially natural for Woodall because he was goalie on the San Diego Nomads soccer club. The motion of kicking a soccer ball after a save is similar to punting.

Both Chapman and Mike Berry, an assistant at Castle Park, saw Heinz play soccer when he was a youngster.

“I used to see him playing over there all the time,” said Berry, who is also a friend of Heinz’s family. “He’s always been kicking. He’s the kind of kicker who gets a lot of distance but not much accuracy.”

Said Chapman: “He has always kicked the ball high. But he gets it so high (now) that the other team rarely returns the ball against him.”

That was only natural, Heinz said.

“The coaches didn’t think I could do it,” he said. “But I knew I could because I had kicked before in soccer. I tried out for them one practice (when he was on the junior varsity) and I kicked it to the 5 or 10. They said, ‘OK, you can kick.’

“It’s not really hard for me to kick. I never really thought about how to do it that much. I just go back a little way and kick. I try not to worry about it too much. It’s natural for me.”

Puentes has a year to wait before he has to worry about dealing with college recruiters. But if his knee heals properly, he can be sure that recruiters will inquire after his services next season.

Woodall and Heinz, however, have already received letters from most of the Pacific 10 schools and other schools such as Michigan, Iowa and Oklahoma.

Woodall and Heinz will probably play other positions in college because of their size and ability.

But Heinz, at least, said he would enjoy kicking after high school.

“They probably have guys who are better than me,” Heinz said. “But I wouldn’t mind giving it a try. I kind of like kickoffs.”