Kicker takes attempt at inside game

April 10, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE - Jeremy Johnson has done a lot of kicking during his life.

His kicked more of his fair share of soccer balls during a long run as both a player and a coach.

And on the football field, Johnson has kicked the pigskin in both high school and college.

But on Thursday, Johnson will do something he's never done before - kick a ball in an indoor football game.

Johnson, a 1992 graduate of Palmer High School, will make his indoor professional football debut as the place-kicker for the Alaska Wild.

The Wild kickoff their inaugural season against the Frisco Thunder at the Sullivan Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Johnson has practiced with the Wild for the last several weeks, but has yet to really see how it is to kick the ball in an indoor setting.

Kicking the ball through the uprights on an indoor field is considerably different to booting the pigskin through the goal post in a traditional outdoor setting.

On the outdoor field there is about 18 feet of space between the uprights for college and the pros. High school kickers have about 23 feet to work with.

But indoors, there is little room for leeway, with only nine feet between the uprights.

Johnson will have to wait until Thursday to really take a shot at the compact version of the field goal. The Wild's practice facility - the Cellular One Sports Center in Anchorage - does not really allow for much kicking. The ceiling is just over 30 feet, Johnson said, so kickers can't really test their skills from much of a distance.

“I've been working on kicking straight the best I can,” Johnson said.

Jokingly, Johnson said he hopes the Wild offense just scores a bunch of touchdowns on Thursday, so he will only have to trot out for chip-shot extra points.

With the Alaska Aces hockey squad- the state's other professional franchise - using the Sullivan Arena, Johnson and the Wild have not been able to get into the facility that will be known as the home to Alaska's first football team. But on Thursday, Johnson said, he's planning to get there as early as he can.

Johnson will kick for the Wild in their first game, but then the team will have to find another placekicker for the five-game road trip that follows.

The travel schedule conflicts with Johnson's other sports gig. He's also the head coach of the Colony High School boys' soccer team.

“I can't do the 31-day road trip,” Johnson said.

If Johnson were to travel, he'd leave the day before his soccer team's first game of the season, and return the day after the last game of the year.

“The logistics of that don't quite cut it,” Johnson said.

So at this point, Johnson is the kicker for the home games.

Johnson said the team plans to pick up a kicker for the road trip. The organization's management is cool with that, he said. But there's always the risk of losing his job on the team, if the Wild find someone else to kick full-time.

Once the prep soccer season ends, Johnson said, it'll be easier to make the road trips.

The Knights' soccer squad is also behind Johnson's decision to kick for the Wild, and that is important, he

said.

“The soccer team is excited for me,” Johnson said. “If they really were against it, I might not have done it at all.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.