The high school football season ended in a tough way for North Augusta senior kicker Jack Stevens.
For all his success during the 2023 campaign with helping the Yellow Jackets to a 7-4 record and playoff appearance, Stevens probably wishes he could have two kicks back.
A game-winning 42-yard field goal during the de-facto region championship game against Midland Valley was blocked on the game’s final play, preserving a 49-48 shootout win for the Mustangs. And then Stevens misfired on a kick that could’ve reversed North Augusta’s fortunes in a 17-16 playoff loss to Greenwood.
But things shifted for Stevens when he declared his commitment to South Dakota State right before Thanksgiving. We had a chance to talk with Stevens about the recruiting process, why his brother is his biggest kicking influence and bouncing back from those tough losses and putting himself in position to be a dominant kicker in college.
STOVALL: Beyond South Dakota State, what other schools were you considering, and what was it about SDSU that made you choose that program?
STEVENS: “I had offers from Troy, UNC-Charlotte and Limestone. I was being recruited by a few others, but those schools were where I actually got an offer. I chose SDSU because of my official visit the prior weekend. The place is awesome, and the coaches were awesome. They have great facilities, and they win a lot.
They won the FCS National Championship last year.”
STOVALL: Why was this the right time for you to make your college choice?
STEVENS: “I decided to take the scholarship to SDSU now because I knew the D-1 transfer portal was opening up, and if me as a high school kid had an offer, I knew I’d better take it before the offer goes away. Once the portal opens, most schools will recruit the portal and forget about high school kids. So I knew that the time was right.”
STOVALL: Typically, people consider the Augusta area to be a basketball city, but what do you feel your commitment to a solid college football program says about this area’s football talent?
STEVENS: “I don’t know about most of the history of the Augusta area and sports or other positions, but, like, the last few years, there have been some really good kickers. My brother Drew has been starting at Iowa for two years now, and he had 12 school records, so he is probably the best kicker to ever come from the Augusta area. I know Ray Guy is the best Punter ever, but for kickers it might be Drew. And I broke four of his records, but he was really good. I know Will Hattaway is at UGA now as a kicker, and Nate Nordeen and some others are pretty good in the area too.”
STOVALL: What do you plan to major in at South Dakota State, and what do you want to do with your college degree once you finish playing football?
STEVENS: “I am torn right now on what I want to major in, but exercise science is something I think I might want to look at. I think physical therapy and helping athletes back from injuries is something I might like a lot. My parents said I should look at being a surveyor because they said I’d be good at it, but not sure why they think that. I will have some time to figure it out.”
STOVALL: How has your time at North Augusta helped prepare you for taking your game to the next level? And what first got you interested in football, particularly being a kicker?
STEVENS: “My North Augusta coaches have been great. I have had a couple. Coach Matt Quinn was my first varsity coach, and this past year with Coach [Richard] Bush. They were both great to me. They let me work on my swing and do my kicker thing pretty much on my own. But they believed in my ability to do my part to help the team on special teams, and I tried to do that the best I could every time I went on the field. I first got into football as a freshman on the B-team. I have played soccer my whole life since I was 4 years old. I still have one season of high school soccer left actually, but I also played club soccer since I was 7. Then when I got to 8th grade and saw my brother kick on the Varsity level as as a sophomore, I thought I could do that too. It’s worked out pretty good so far.”
STOVALL: You’ve been working hard in kicking sessions almost since the day the season ended. You had a tough ending to the season. How much did that inspire you to want to get back to work?
STEVENS: “Yeah, my senior season did not end very well in terms of wins and losses. Losing both those games by a single point, and in both games I had a chance to make a game winner. The Midland Valley one got blocked and I just pushed the last one vs. Greenwood. But I had made two field goals against Midland Valley and three field goals against Greenwood earlier in those games, so I guess if I hadn’t made those earlier kicks we wouldn’t have gotten those chances at the end. But only one team ends their season with a win each year in the state championship game, so pretty much everybody ends their high school career with a loss. It happens. I was lucky enough to be selected as the Kicker for Team North in the Touchstone Energy North-South All-Star game over in Myrtle Beach on Dec 9th so I have had to keep doing sessions 3 days a week up at the high school field to stay sharp for that. Once that game is over my kicking coach says I should take 60 days off and rest my leg at least from kicking. He says this time of year is for kickers to recharge their legs and get ready for the summer workout grind and into the season next fall.”
STOVALL: Who are some kickers you’d like to study or emulate?
STEVENS: “I’m a big Philadelphia Eagles fan so right now I like to watch Jake Elliott kick. I like the Eagles because it makes my dad mad since he is a fan of the Redskins or Commanders or whatever they are now. But my biggest reason I kick is my brother. He hits bombs. I want to hit kicks like he does. I work on my swing and technique a lot to get better whenever I can. I also like Justin Tucker and Joey Slye. Justin, like, never misses, and that’s always the goal, and Joey absolutely crushes the ball. But I also have to say my kicking coach Dan Orner is a big reason why I kick too.
“He has helped me so much over the last couple of years for me to get to where I am. There have been some other guys I have done some camps with whom I like too, like Coach Adam at HKA. Getting to compete at monthly events with Coach Dan and some national events with Coach Adam and some of the bigger camps with Kohl’s Kicking is great for me to see how I stack up against other guys in my class and get to meet them and then see what schools they go to is pretty cool. Kicking is actually a pretty close and small world, especially when it comes to recruiting.”
