Just for kicks
August 12, 2015 by Mike Casazza
A few years ago at Hurricane High, there was something of a novelty act. The team had a really good kicker and punter, a small player with a big leg who happened to be a very good athlete, a sprinter on the track team who qualified for the state meet in the long jump.
Michael Molina made a calculated choice when in the spring of 2013 he decided to walk on at West Virginia. We’re in a time still when only choice kickers, punters and long snappers are getting scholarships. Molina wasn’t in line to get one, but he also knew there was a need.
Tyler Bitancurt was a senior and the Mountaineers had but one other kicker on scholarship. More and more now teams stockpile specialists, if even as walkons. Turns out the competition’s name was Josh Lambert, who’s only become one of Dana Holgorsen’s favorite players, even if he jokes about it, while setting a few NCAA records and nearly winning the Groza Award last year.
“Yeah,’’ Molina said. “Josh is pretty good.’’
It’s not that Molina isn’t. He arrived two summers ago as a 5-foot-8, 150-pound wisp of a kid who looked like he might have been someone’s brother or son who was tagging along and had been given a uniform to keep him quiet.
He’s since added 26 pounds of almost entirely muscle while working in Mike Joseph’s weight room. Sometimes when the ball is kicked during practice it requires a glance into the backfield to see that it’s not the 5-11, 215-pound Lambert who had sent the ball flying.
“I definitely have gotten a lot stronger,’’ Molina said. “I just listen to what Mike tells us to do and keep working hard. I know that it’s possible.’’
Molina might even find himself a regular job this fall. He and punter Nick O’Toole are fighting for the kickoff job that last year belonged to Molinari. But even if he doesn’t win that job, Molina will maintain an even keel.
“I’m having a lot of fun with all the guys around here, so I can’t complain,’’ Molina said. “I learn a lot from Josh. He’s one great kicker. I can’t complain. I’m having fun.’’
Prediction: Molina is your kickoff guy. The ball sounds different off his foot and goes where the coaches want it to go, whereas O’Toole, whose leg, to be fair, is conditioned for a totally different swing, doesn’t get quite the air and sometimes sprays it.