Highlighting Indiana's Special Teams: Precision, Power, Impact

The state of Indiana quietly has some of the best special teamers. Special teams never get the love or respect they deserve, but you do not win games without them, and quite often, their the ones you're calling on in the clutch moments.    Already known as one of the nation's top kickers, De Freitas made Indiana history on Friday night. With a stiff wind at his back, De Freitas hit an Indiana-record 62-yard field goal. Not only did his mechanics stay true to form, but he had the confidence he could make the kick. Plus, the staff had the confidence to give him the chance. A strong wind can help, but you must still hit the ball cleanly, track the wind accurately, and clear the line on top of everything else. Throughout his career, he's hit multiple 50+ yard field goals and always cleared the bar with plenty of room.     Krisiloff is still one of the state's best kickers and he's making the most of every kick he gets. While the offense has cooled off a bit this year, so he's not kicking quite as many XPs, he's getting more Field Goal opportunities which are what we're looking for. While he's only been called on 6 times, he's hit a long of 40 yards. The misses are not short kicks, either. He's a kicker who gives the staff confidence that they can trot him out once you cross the 30. He's also got 10 touchbacks when kicking off and averages 45 yards per kickoff.     Weartz is someone who I think has fairly good collegiate punter potential. While I know nobody wants to send the punter on the field, you need him. You need a guy like Weartz with solid mechanics and a good understanding of how to flip the field. He's got good hangtime and allows his gunners to get downfield. Most of the time when he's given a full-green light to hit it as hard as he can, it will end in a fair catch. As he develops and gets a bigger leg, it will only increase his ability to flip the field and get the ball in the air longer.     Lafayette Jefferson has had such an advantage at the kicking spot since Garrido stepped on the field for them and he's going to be hard to replace. This season alone, he's already hit 32 for 32 PATs. He's also hit 40 kickoffs and 30 of them have been touchbacks, with an average of 60 yards per kickoff. He's also averaged a little under 40 yards per punt with nailing 1 down inside the 20. Consistency is the name of the game in kicking and Garrido is as consistent as they come.     In his second season taking over kicking duties for Valpo, the growth and development is there. He had a solid sophomore year but there were some ups and downs as you'd expect. He seems much more confident and that seems to be the biggest difference. As of now, he currently leads the state with made field goals. He's hit 9 of 10 with his long being just 31, but he's yet to miss an extra point and has plenty of leg.     I'm not sure there's a more versatile player for their respective program than Branch-Lewis. He seemingly never comes off the field and has one of the more impressive kickoff returns for a TD on the year. Not only that, but he leads the state in kickoff return yards, and still would if you removed that 98-yarder. He's also a full-time starter on defense and has been a reliable corner for them. He's not afraid to make contact or be left on an island. He makes tackles in space and had 49 last year with 4 interceptions. He's also rotated in on offense but Branch-Lewis is someone you can bring in to help Special Teams and defense.

The state of Indiana quietly has some of the best special teamers. Special teams never get the love or respect they deserve, but you do not win games without them, and quite often, their the ones you're calling on in the clutch moments.