Jackson State football coach T.C. Taylor said at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day on July 16 that the team would win more games in 2024 with improved special teams play.
The Tigers, who finished 7-4 in 2023, will have to do that without a key piece of the kicking game from last season.
Dylan Wasson, who joined the team in midseason and ended up being the team's No. 1 kicker, is no longer on the team after participating in the spring practice.
Wasson is not listed on the football roster posted on the school's athletic website. Kicker Gerardo Baeza is listed as wearing the No. 38 jersey, Wasson’s number last season. There are five players listed on the roster as kickers competing for kickoff, punt, extra point and field goal opportunities.
Wasson converted field goal attempts of 23 and 35 yards in the Blue and White Spring Game on April 6.
“The kickers are pretty good,” Taylor said after the game.
This is what we know.
Injuries to Jackson State football kickers forced a SOS call in 2023
Jackson State lost Baeza to an injury in the fourth game of the 2023 season against Texas State. All-American punter Matt Noll was injured the before the Bethune-Cookman game the next week.
The injuries prompted Taylor to reach out to Jackson State women's soccer coach Ted Flogaites for kicker candidates. Flogaites suggested walk-on freshman Leilani Armenta.
The team used Armenta to start the Bethune-Cookman game with a 25-yard pooch kick. Armenta became the first woman to play in an HBCU football game.
Armenta, who was coming off an ACL injury suffered her senior year at St. Bonaventure High School in California, kicked sparingly for the Tigers. Taylor wanted Armenta to strengthen her injured leg before kicking full time.
Wasson joined the team in the sixth game of the season against Alabama A&M, against whom he made a 40-yard field goal. During the season, he converted six of nine field goal attempts with a long of 46 yards against Alabama State. He also punted three times and kicked off 32 times with eight touchbacks.
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The Tigers are set at punter with the return of Noll, a graduate senior who averaged 44.3 yards per punt with a long of 65 yards.
Baeza, a redshirt junior, was 4-of-6 in field goals in 2023 but missed his only attempt from 40 yards or longer. He averaged 61.5 yards on 15 kickoffs.
Armenta converted three extra point attempts against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a 40-14 win Oct. 28, 2023. In the Blue and White game, she kicked field goals of 20 and 24 yards.
Avery Salerno, a sophomore, punted 17 times and averaged 26.7 yards per punt in 2023. Jalen Ballard, a redshirt senior, will compete for a kicking job after transferring from Holmes Community College.
Jackson State opens its 2024 football season against the University of Louisiana-Monroe on Aug. 29 (ESPN+, 6 p.m.)
J.T. Keith is the HBCU sports editor for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at JKeith@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @JTKEITH1.
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