The defense is as good as it has been in more than a decade and the offense boasts once-in-a-generation talent, but the reason Mansfield Senior is still unbeaten is because of the powerful right leg of its kicker.
To call Hutch Blackstone just a kicker, however, is to sell him short. There is far more to the unassuming senior than field goals and extra points.
Blackstone’s high school resume is the stuff college recruiters can only dream of. Consider:
- He carries a 3.95 grade point average and is ranked at the top of his class.
- He is the captain of a Senior High soccer team that, going into Thursday’s sectional championship game against crosstown rival Madison, was one win shy of matching the school record for most wins in a season.
- He is a two-time state swim meet qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.
Then, of course, there is the kicking. In last week’s 23-17 win over West Holmes, Blackstone booted three field goals and two PATs and accounted for 11 points. For the season he is 8 for 10 on field goals and 32 for 34 on extra points and leads the Tygers in scoring with 56 total points.
For his career, Blackstone is 89 for 96 on extra points (.927) and 14 for 20 on field goal attempts (.700). The All-Ohio candidate has scored 131 career points.
That powerful right leg, attached to an ultra-athletic 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame, was never more important than it was last week. In addition to the 11 points he scored, Blackstone twice pinned West Holmes inside its own 20 yard line on punts. His final punt of the night was downed at the West Holmes 5 yard line with 1:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. West Holmes never advanced the ball beyond its own 16 yard line.
“I’ve been telling Hutch for the past three years we are going to have to lean on him to win us a game one of these days,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “Friday was one of those days and there may be a few more of those days in our future.”
In fact, Bradley would like Blackstone to take on a bigger role for the Tygers (7-0, 4-0 Ohio Cardinal Conference), who visit Wooster on Friday.
“The kids is 6-3 and he is athletic. We would love to use him as a receiver on offense and as a safety, or even a linebacker, on defense,” Bradley said. “After the soccer season was over last year, we had him take part in some live tackling drills in practice on special teams and he was blowing kids up. There is no doubt in my mind he could help us out in other areas.”
For now, though, Blackstone is focused on soccer. Mansfield Senior is 10-4-2 and handed state-ranked Mansfield Christian its only loss of the season. Blackstone, a center midfielder, has eight goals.
“This is without a doubt the best soccer team we’ve had,” said Blackstone, who was promoted to the varsity team late in his freshman year. “We have a bunch of seniors who have been playing together since we were little.”
A win over the Rams would likely send Mansfield Senior into a district semifinal matchup against Anthony Wayne. The Generals, who were to play Oregon Clay in a sectional title game Thursday, were ranked No. 2 in the final Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll.
“As a competitor, you want to play against the very best,” Blackstone said. “You don’t get the opportunity to go up against teams like that very often.”
By the time Friday rolls around, Blackstone will be ready to kick the oblong ball again. He started kicking for the football team when he was in the eighth grade.
“Like soccer, there is a good group of seniors on the football team who have been playing together since we were at Malabar (Middle School),” Blackstone said. “There is a lot of talent on this team.”
His commitment to the soccer team doesn’t allow Blackstone to practice with the football team as often as he would like. Still, he has developed a close bond with long snapper Mitch Nixon and holder Brandon Swindal.
“People don’t realize how difficult kicking is,” said Blackstone, who has a career long field goal of 44 yards. “There are a lot of complex mechanics, from the position of my plant foot to my body position to the spot of the ball on the tee.”
If one thing is slightly off, the kick is doomed.
“You have got to remember, all those moving parts have got to come together in about a second or else the kick is going to get blocked,” Bradley said. “The timing is critical.”
Even though he isn’t around the football team as often as he would like, Blackstone has earned the trust of his teammates.
“We feel like we have one of the best kickers in the state,” quarterback Jalen Reese said after Friday’s win. “Hutch always come through for us.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
