'I can make it from 60-plus': Lakota kicker Brandon Leal doesn't lack confidence

Nine field goals from 56 yards or longer have sailed through the uprights in Ohio high school football history.

Lakota senior Brandon Leal made one of those kicks last season with a 56-yard field goal in a loss to Margaretta. He believes he can make a longer kick.

"For me, I don't have range," he said. "From 65 yards, I'm not going to tell coach I can't. I go out and try to hit it. That's not my mentality; if I have a 65-yard chance, I'll kick it. Whatever comes at me, I'm going to try to do it."

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He's confident he can make more than half his tries from 60 yards or more, if provided the opportunity. He made a 62-yard field goal at practice late last season.

He made a 60-yard field goal at practice a few days before the game against the Polar Bears. The mental boost was diminished a bit by the fact snapper Micah Williams was feeling the effects of the heat, throwing up a few plays before the field goal with three seconds left in the first half.

"I heard a coach say, 'We're just going to kick it," Leal said. "Coaches told him, 'You have to go in and snap one ball.' He did. I wasn't confident, I won't lie. At the time, I couldn't believe it.

Getting stronger

How do you prepare to make progressively longer kicks?

"What you do in the gym in the offseason to make your leg stronger," Leal said. "Technique through the ball."

You also have to have the memory of a goldfish.

"The hardest thing is mental; you can't let a miss at practice or in a game get to you," Leal said. "You have to know what you did wrong and scratch it; you're going to kick again. When you kick, everybody is looking at you.

"It's not like a normal play. The act of kicking is the easy part. When you miss is the hardest part of kicking a football."

Leal made seven field goals last season and missed four times, including twice from 55 yards.

Of course, Leal likes to watch Baltimore's Justin Tucker from long range in the NFL. His favorite professional is Dallas' Brandon Aubrey.

"He grew up playing soccer," Leal said. "I played soccer until I was 14. I didn't think about football; I didn't watch football. I still love soccer."

Leal made a soccer ball for a project in eighth-grade for teacher Megan Brickman. Upon learning he played soccer, Brickman summoned former football coach Mike Lento.

"He pulled me out of class and told me to kick some footballs," Leal said. "That's how it first started. Kicking (both) is the same concept."

Leal continued to focus on soccer his freshman year, before his brother (Jonathan Rosas) told him to give football a try as a sophomore. Leal's mentality continues to evolve as he's taken a few hits and even delivered some, with two tackles as a junior.

"That summer, I started to truly play football," he said. "I knew how to kick a soccer ball. I used that technique. I didn't know how to kick a football. Before junior year, I learned to properly kick a football from watching videos online.

"I'd watch and try to find my right technique. Going into junior year, I changed my technique. It gave me more power and distance."

Leal began working with former Clyde assistant coach and former kicker Jerry Phillips after his junior season.

"He taught me all these techniques to help me," Leal said. "There's so many things to learn. I went to camps. The basics helped me groove."

Phillips works with Leal on contact on the ball. Where to hit it. Phillips insists Leal make 35-yard kicks from each hash and the center of the field — in succession — before moving back.

Leal, who hopes to continue his career in college, improved his kickoffs since last season. Consistent touchbacks are the expectation recruiting a kicker. He'll add punting to his duties this season. Phillips can help with that as well.

"Punting a soccer ball is easier," he said. "The football has to be sideways to spiral and go far."

Making history at Lakota

Lakota won five games in the regular season and lost in the first round of the postseason. Quarterback Jalen Wagner, receivers Avery Shilling and Grant Bomer, running back Nate Grigson and lineman Max Nordhaus are among individuals to watch for first-year coach Ryan Lozier .

"For something that big to happen — Lakota is small — that kick went viral for like a week," Leal said. "Facebook, it was even on the news. It shows that even at a small school, there are talented athletes. We didn't win the game; I made the field goal.

"We went to the playoffs. That was a big moment. We're in the middle of nowhere. We compete, and hopefully we get our first playoff win this year. I made something big at a small school. But my snapper, my line, my holder, all of it had to be perfect and we had the athletes.

"We're small, but we still have kids to get the job done and compete."

Leal would love a shot to break the state distance record with a kick from 62 yards.

"My leg is a little stronger, I can make it from 60-plus," he said. "Snap, hold and good contact, I'm good 60 and in. I can make from 61 if I get a chance to match it or beat it. I think about that big moment all the time. That kick last year and how much better I am.

"I think of a 63 yarder to break the record. I think about it often."

mhorn@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: 'I can make it from 60-plus': Lakota kicker Brandon Leal doesn't lack confidence