A football newcomer, kicker Jack Soslow draws college interest
Jack Soslow lined up for a kickoff late in Haverford School's win on Saturday afternoon. The ball had been placed 15 yards ahead of its usual spot because of a penalty on Springside Chestnut Hill.
Jack Soslow lined up for a kickoff late in Haverford School's win on Saturday afternoon. The ball had been placed 15 yards ahead of its usual spot because of a penalty on Springside Chestnut Hill.
"Field goal, field goal, field goal," the Haverford School student section chanted.
Booming it into the end zone, which Soslow had already done a few times, was no longer enough. The fans were prodding the senior, who is one of the area's best kickers, to send the ball through the goalposts - it wound up wide left.
It has been a quick ride for Soslow, who went from the soccer team's defender to superstar placekicker in just a few months. He joined the football team a day before practice started in August. Soslow played soccer his whole life, but decided to forgo his senior season to give football a try.
"It's amazing," he said. "On the soccer field, I never had this experience before. I absolutely love it."
Most high school kickers have played for four years and attended kicking camps that college coaches use to evaluate talent. Soslow has just seven games worth of highlights, which he edits and posts online each week.
His success is helping him catch up fast in the recruiting game. He hit a 52-yard field goal earlier this season and has missed just four attempts. His misses include a blocked try and a 47-yarder that clanged off the left upright. Even attempting a field goal from that distance is uncommon for a high school team.
"It's a major weapon," coach Mike Murphy said.
Ivy League coaches have contacted Soslow, and the senior has the grades needed for admission. Before football became an option, he had narrowed his college choices to Penn and Vanderbilt. He wants to study mathematics, engineering, or business. He said he will try to walk on as a kicker wherever he goes.
Soslow will attend kicking camps in the winter, after the conclusion of Haverford's season. He has registered for one in North Carolina. Most of the other participants attend private kicking sessions with personal coaches. But not Soslow.
"Pretty much everything I've learned about kicking is straight from the soccer field or straight off YouTube," he said.
Soslow's classmates began prodding him to play football in seventh grade, but he declined. Last year, his friends signed him up for an in-school kicking competition. Soslow won but was still unsure about football.
After spending almost every day this summer at soccer practice, Soslow had a day to himself. He went alone to a local football field and measured off a 55-yard field goal. Soslow placed the ball upright with a metal kicking holder that his father bought him a few years ago. If he makes this, he thought, he'll try out for the football team.
"And I did," he said.
His friends came to see him kick; wanting to make sure he was for real. They told him to call Murphy. The Haverford School found its kicker a day before practice started. And Soslow discovered another sport suited for his booming leg.
@matt_breen