Punt, pass and kick competitors try to win trip

THOMPSON FALLS – Competition heated up on Sunday afternoon, as excited participants exercised their punt, pass and kick skills on Previs Field in hopes of getting a free trip to Seattle down the road.

The annual Punt, Pass and Kick competition took over the rainy afternoon, which luckily cleared slightly for the event.

According to organizer Doug Willhite, the turnout was better than last year, a surprising turn of events given the weather.

“For a rainy wet day, I’m shocked with how many people we have,” said Willhite.

That shock proved to be a good thing with this year’s competition involving 22 participants while last year yielded eighteen. Another accomplishment this year was getting more girls involved. With only one lady participating in the event last year, this year provided more of a competition between the girls.

The event began with the boys, age 6 through 15, and moved onto the girls, which ranged from age 10 to 13.

As the name of the event reads, the participants first took turns punting the ball down the field, attempting to get the football to land as close to the measuring line as possible.

Any distance away from the measuring line would be deducted from the final length.

“During the competition, what we want you to do here is punt, pass and kick (the ball) as far as possible but you want to be as accurate as possible. You want it as close to the line as possible,” explained Willhite to the crowd.

First the boys and then the girls cycled through the punting part of the competition, later moving on to the passing and kicking portions.

Each participant had the opportunity to either keep their initial length or try a second time – keeping the second length as their final length in that category.

The final scores were put together by adding the number of feet the ball moved through the three different categories of competition.

The winners of each age group are headed to Missoula next weekend for the Sectional Competition. The competition will be held at Big Sky High School. If the participants move on from sectionals, they will compete during a Monday Night Football game in Seattle for the regional tournament.

The game will take place on December 2nd when the Seattle Seahawks clash with the New Orleans Saints in a football showdown.

From there, the winners will move on to the National Championship, which will take place during playoffs – the date still unknown.

According to Willhite, the steps are possible and a national champion from Thompson Falls was crowned near the year 2006. McKayla Becker competed in Seattle two times for the Sectional Competition and in her third try made it to nationals – winning the competition.

“I’ve used her as an advertisement a little bit to boost people’s morals to come and do it. With a little bit of practice, you can do it,” said Willhite.

Overall, the competition saw a variety of athletes from throughout the county, stretching as far as Noxon to Dixon. No Plains or Hot Springs kids participated in this year’s competition, although the organizers challenged them to be present next year.

Those who will be advancing to the Missoula Sectional competition are as follows: Boys 6 to 10 – Braxton Dorsher with 85 feet; Boys 8 to 9 – Kody Carter with 163 feet and ten inches; Boys 10 to 11 – Crimson Drapeay with 81 feet; Boys 12 to 13 – Trey Fisher with 178 feet and six inches; Boys 14 to 15 – McKenzie Holt with 351 feet and seven inches; Girls 10 to 11 – Kelsey Frank with 113 feet and three inches; and girls 12 to 13 – Molly Carter with 140 feet and five inches.

The NFL sponsors the Punt, Pass and Kick program and according to their website is in their 52nd season.

The PPK competition holds the title for the oldest grassroots initiative at the NFL and continually reaches out to children ages 6 to 15. The event “allows them to experience the fun of learning football fundamentals in an engaging and supportive non-contact environment.”