Haley

GROVE CITY — In his heart,Chris Haley is a kicker. But atGrove City College, the sophomore has to be a punter, too.

No sweat. Haley is fine with doing both.

"Punting is more of a challenge for me," said Haley, a Butler High graduate who averaged 36 yards per punt last season. "I didn't punt in high school until I was a senior. This year,I really want to improve my average."

Haley might not have many chances to raise that average this season. The Wolverines have Steve Stombaugh in camp — another sophomore kicker who can take some of the punting duties off Haley's busy right foot.

"You like to not have a guy do both," said Grove City coach Chris Smith. "They are different mechanics, and when you have a guy doing both, he can't be as good as he can be doing just one."

Still,Haley was pretty good in 2007. He was 7 of 11 on field goals and hit one from 49 yards againstWaynesburg College. Haley said he feels his upper range is about 53 yards.

His freshman season was impressive enough to earn him a spot on the all-Presidents' Athletic Conference second team.

"He's an excellent kicker," Smith said. "We'd like to see him focus on placekicking because he can improve even more."

Haley can make the difference for Grove City, and he is well aware of that.

Last season, the Wolverines lost two conference games in the final seconds. If those narrow losses were wins, Grove City would have been in contention for a Division III playoff spot.

For Haley, the best part about being a kicker is the impact he can make on a game.

"You can change a game in a split second," Haley said. "You can kill the momentum of your team or spike it.

"You try not to think about the score or the situation of the game, but that's pretty hard to do sometimes. Once you get out there, you just have to think it's just you, the snap and the holder."

Haley trained in the offseason to get stronger and add distance to his kicks.

Where he'd like to see more of a boom is in his kickoffs — an area that troubled Haley last year.

"I worked with a guy who compared kicking off to running the hurdles," Haley said. "With a field goal, you skip through the ball. On a kickoff, you want to get some momentum behind you. You need to explode through the ball."

Haley has worked on that and he is happy with the results.

"I'd like to consistently get my kickoffs to the 5-yard line," he said. "And with a little height to it."

Smith, who is entering his 25th season as the Wolverines' coach, is happy Haley's on the roster.

"When you have someone who you feel like can give you points any time you get inside the 30-yard line, that's a weapon," Smith said.