PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) – Colony High School’s record-holding kicker has signed to the collegiate ranks, continuing to play at a position that does not often take players out of state to the next level.
Johnny Figgins put pen to paper in front of friends and family at Colony’s Library, signing to kick for the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, an NCAA Division III football program that saw a 7-3 record last season.
”Now I officially feel like a collegiate athlete and it feels great,” Figgins said. ”The people and the environment, it was a lot like Colony. It felt like home. Even the long snapper is going to be working with me a lot; he was like, ‘Hey man, you should commit here.’ Great school, great football team.”
During his junior season, Figgins drilled a 41-yard field goal (with plenty of leg left on it) to set a new Colony High School record and seal a win over their rivals in Wasilla. Figgins says he can connect on 55-yard field goals in practice.
”A lot of kicks and a lot of time,” Figgins said of what it takes to make it to the next level. “It doesn’t happen overnight, you’re going to miss. Just focus on the next kick; the most important kick is the next one.”
There are a few factors as to why not many Alaska high school football kickers go on to kick in college. One, there are fewer roster spots for that position on a football team than for others. Some Alaska teams abandon extra points and field goals altogether, electing for the two-point conversion or to go for it on fourth down due to a lack of trust in a placekicker.
”I get really nervous about kickers,” Colony football offensive coordinator Brian McIntosh said to Figgins at the signing ceremony. “But your senior year, your junior year, I’m like, ‘let’s just kick it.’ And there was no limit to your range. If coach told me before the game that you’re hitting 45-50 [yards], then okay, we’re going to do that. Thank you for making my life easier.”
Another reason may be that kickers in other states can kick outdoors all year long, increasing the window for improvement in a game-like setting. Elements and climate can play a factor too, with some teams not wanting to kick through heavy winds, rain, or cold, often seen in Alaska High School Football.
”It is windy out here, and towards the end of the season, it gets cold. It has definitely helped me adapt and overcome,” Figgins said. “Where I am going in Wisconsin, their field gets a little bit windy too, but I am already used to it and adapted to it so it’ll be easier to get into it.”
Figgins overcame all of these factors and will be taking the talents he discovered in his freshman year to the collegiate level. Coming from a military family, Figgins came to Alaska from Guam, where he was soon thrown onto the gridiron.
”He never played football in his life and we made him play,” Johnny’s father, Charles, recalled. “Because of the coaching, the team, the family here, he wanted to continue on. He even said, ‘I think I might get a scholarship for this someday.’ We laughed, obviously. Joke’s on us, right?”
Figgins is also a four-year Colony soccer player competing in his final season with the Knights and has maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout high school.
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