PANTHER SPORTS

A different kind of hard work

Panthers kicker hones his craft in isolation

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

SPORTS EDITOR

While Connor Hawkins’ teammates are banging heads and bodies at one end of the field at Panther Stadium during a typical football practice on a given day, Liberty Hill’s kicker is at the other end – alone.

Well, almost.

“Usually, it’ll be me and Karson Bye,” said Hawkins, of his junior varsity counterpart. “We’ll work on things together and give each other advice.”

Yes, being a kicker can be a lonely existence, but a very important one, as games that are fought for over the course of four quarters can sometimes come down to whether or not the man charged with putting the ball through the uprights can properly execute under pressure with the weight of an entire team on his shoulders.

So, to ensure he’s ready for such a situation, Hawkins spends his time on the practice field working to perfect his kicking motion to the point where muscle memory can kick in – no pun intended – when the game is on the line.

“It’s exactly like a golf swing,” said Hawkins. “You just have to do it over and over exactly the same way.”

Only for Hawkins, putting a pigskin through the paces is a relatively new endeavor as he grew up playing a different kind of football.

“I started playing soccer when I was two,” he said. “I didn’t start playing football until eighth grade.”

Back in those days, Hawkins thought the world version was going to be the road he traveled on as opposed to the domestic variety, he said.

“I thought soccer was what I was going to pursue,” said Hawkins, who played on the Panthers soccer team his first two years of high school. “But, then (Liberty Hill junior varsity soccer) Coach (Josh Blake) told me (former Liberty Hill kicker) Ethan (Minix) was graduating and they would have a spot open on the varsity.”

So, Hawkins played on the JV football squad his freshman year – although after only a single season of gridiron, he said he was ready to walk away.

“Back then, I was forced to also play offense and defense,” said Hawkins, who was also a halfback and safety. “By the end of football season, I was worn out for the beginning of soccer.” Connor Hawkins (#1) puts in a different kind of work to hone his craft as a kicker compared to the other positions on a football team. PHOTO BY ALEX RUBIO

However, when it came time to report the following season, he was granted a reprieve from playing other positions and allowed to focus strictly on kicking – which made all the difference, he said.

“Kicking was really what I enjoyed most about football,” said Hawkins. “Also, I had some natural talent – I ended up falling in love with kicking.”

Soon after, Hawkins was faced with one of the biggest decisions of his young life in making a choice -- continuing to play the game he had since he could walk or switching over full-time to his newfound vocation.

“At that point, I realized football was probably going to take me the furthest,” he said. “Besides, continuing to try playing soccer would’ve messed up my mechanics for football.”

According to Hawkins, the repetition of swinging his right leg back exactly the same way to boot a football could potentially be disturbed by the improvisational nature of kicking a soccer ball.

“When you’re playing soccer, kicking the ball isn’t as technical,” said Hawkins. “You’re dribbling and kicking the ball when it’s moving, trying to get it to do different things.”

Despite the fact Hawkins doesn’t undergo the exact same type of training his teammates do, that doesn’t mean his degree of difficulty isn’t the same, he said.

“Kicking is a lot more complicated than people think,” said Hawkins. “It might look easy, but it’s quite a bit more difficult.”

For one thing, when he lines up for a placement – be it a field goal or an extra point – there is more than just him to the equation.

“It’s all three of us working together,” said Hawkins. “Me, the holder and the long snapper.”

Hawkins’ holder happens to be senior starting quarterback Reese Vickers, whose hands are also used for another quite important purpose, that is, running Liberty Hill’s vaunted Slot-T offense from his signal-caller position.

So, does Hawkins ever experience any angst about accidentally derailing Vickers with a misplaced boot?

In a word – no.

“I suppose it could happen, but it’s very unlikely,” laughed Hawkins. “Reese does a pretty good job getting his hands out of the way in time.”

Now that Hawkins has found a new athletic calling on a different kind of field than he had envisioned and completely committed himself to the cause, he has aspirations of booting balls at higher levels of football and has already attended elite kicking camps where players are recruited to college programs.

“I’ve already been invited to camps at Arkansas, UTSA and Texas Tech,” he said. “I’m going to have a game day campus visit to Arkansas in November.”

Does he have a dream destination at which to continue his career?

Any SEC (Southeastern Conference) school would be great,” said Hawkins, a junior. “It doesn’t really matter which one.”

Even though Hawkins has left soccer behind for his new kicking passion, there is one piece of his past he has brought with him into the present.

“I still wear soccer cleats,” he said. “They fit your feet much better for kicking than football cleats.”

Liberty Hill junior kicker Connor Hawkins (#1) switched to football full-time after growing up playing primarily soccer. PHOTO BY ALEX RUBIO

Kylie Hutchinson (#8) provides the Lady Panthers with energy and enthusiasm from her defensive specialist position. PHOTO BY ALEX RUBIO

Providing the spark

Lady Panthers defensive specialist brings energy, enthusiasm

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

SPORTS EDITOR

Whenever Kylie Hutchinson is anywhere near a volleyball court, one thing is for sure.

She will definitely make her presence known.

For example, this season the junior defensive specialist has developed a trademark celebration for whenever one of her teammates serves an ace.

First, Hutchinson will rise up from her seat on the bench, then sprint past her teammates exchanging high fives while letting loose with a celebratory shriek.

But, that’s not all.

Once she’s reached the end of the bench, her run continues culminating with a flying leap directly toward a video camera that’s broadcasting the match live.

According to Hutchinson, the origin of the celebration was inspired by a particular viewer earlier in the season.

“We were at the Glen Rose tournament,” said Hutchinson. “My mom was watching online, so I wanted to make sure she saw me.”

However, lately Hutchinson’s mother has been able to see her daughter perform much more on the court as she has received more and more playing time as the campaign has carried on down the stretch – an occurrence Liberty Hill head coach Marie Bruce said has been justified by how she has conducted herself away from the spotlight of matches.

“Kylie has been working very hard in practice,” said Bruce. “She’s a phenomenal team player.”

But, Hutchinson is far more valuable from an overall aspect than just her contributions on the court, as the perky, 5-foot-1 dynamo brings much more to the fight than anything that shows up on the stat sheet.

“Coach Bruce put me on the this team to provide a spark,” she said. “My role is to always bring energy whether I’m playing or not.”

Hutchinson has a history of lifting the spirits of others, as she was a cheerleader long before she took up volleyball in seventh grade after feeling as if she had accomplished all she could holding pom poms, she said.

“I think I had pretty much maxed out what I could do,” said Hutchinson. “I also played basketball in middle school, but thought volleyball would be fun.”

Ever since, Hutchinson has combined her cheer talents with her volleyball skills in a hybrid fashion that makes her an indispensable member of the Lady Panthers, said Bruce.

“It’s a blessing to have a kid like Kylie on our team,” she said. “She never has a bad day and is willing to run through a wall for the team.”

In her backcourt position, Hutchinson is effective despite her height in repelling even the hardest hits from opponents – something she takes great satisfaction in.

“I love it when we play teams with crazy Division I (college-recruited) hitters,” she said. “I’m always confident I can get the ball.”

No matter what transpires when she takes the court, though, Hutchinson will always remain calm, cool, collected and full of enthusiasm – after all, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My biggest strength is my personality and always giving 100 percent,” she said. “I don’t like a lot of stress.”

Fighting to live a normal life

Swim senior battles various ailments to compete

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

SPORTS EDITOR

Sitting on one of the purple benches on the sidelines at Panther Stadium on a crisp autumn day, Ryan Benson smiles as the junior varsity football squad takes the field for practice.

Some of the players nod in his direction and one walks over for a fist bump.

Benson is right where he always wanted to be – in a manner of speaking, that is.

The Liberty Hill senior was born with a faulty heart valve that needed to be replaced with one from a pig heart in order to properly oxygenate blood so he could breath – which he couldn’t naturally.

“For the first seven weeks of my life, I couldn’t breathe on my own,” said Benson. “I had to be hooked up to a machine.”

However, despite the procedure to save his life, the damage had already been done, and it came to fruition in the form of several ailments that have plagued Benson from that day forward.

“I have three different heart issues, two with my lungs and one with my brain,” he said. “I’ve been fighting to live for 17 years.”

As a result, Benson has never been able to participate in many normal activities – not the least of which is athletics – in particular swimming.

But, finally after all these years, his lifelong athletic ambition is unfolding.

Benson is a member of the swim team and is currently enjoying his long-awaited opportunity to compete for the Panthers.

“It finally got to the point where I could use my body,” said Benson. “I’ve been working with it for 17 years.”

Benson is referring to an exhaustive, continual process over the course of which Benson has learned to know his body from the inside out – realizing what he can and can’t do – when he can push himself and when he needs to back off.

Before he could do anything even resembling athletic activity, though, he had to master even the most basic of movements.

“If I’m sitting down and I stand up too fast, I’ll pass out,” said Benson. “At first,

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PANTHER OF THE MONTH ‘Setting’ on the sidelines no longer

Lady Panthers senior volleyballer gets chance to shine

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

SPORTS EDITOR

For much of her senior year, Macy Land had one of the best seats in the house for Liberty Hill volleyball matches.

However, she wasn’t in the front row of the stands, but firmly planted on the Lady Panthers’ bench as a rarely-used substitute.

But a funny thing happened coming down the stretch of the district schedule with the playoffs only a few weeks away.

Suddenly, Land found herself in the midst of the action with an even better vantage point – that is, a first-hand one – from on the court instead of on the sidelines.

Land’s breakout performance was in the Lady Panthers’ 3-2 (25-18, 25-15, 22-25, 23-25, 11-15) defeat to Cedar Park on Oct. 11 when she played in all five sets and collected 18 assists on an occasion that marked only the fourth time all season in the campaign’s first 46 matches she had played in each set of a contest.

However, despite her relative inactivity up to that point, Land said she was ready due to head coach Marie Bruce’s ability to keep her backups engaged regardless of the amount of playing time they get.

“Coach Bruce does a really good job with the bench players,” she said. “She tells us when we go in we don’t have to be perfect, which takes a lot of pressure off because she understands it’s difficult to come off the bench cold.”

Bruce agreed with Land’s assessment.

“Yes, it’s difficult to go in when you’re not warm,” said Bruce. “You need to get used to the flow and the pace of the game.”

According to Bruce, perhaps Land was cast in the wrong light as far as where she belonged on the court for much of the season.

“I didn’t realize Macy had been a setter – I knew her more as a defensive specialist,” said Bruce. “But, she’s stepped into that role and done very well.”

Quite to the contrary, setting is really the only role Land has ever known on a volleyball court since he began playing the game at age three before moving into club volleyball in sixth grade.

“I’ve always been a setter,” said Land. “It’s a mindset you need to have – controlling the court like a quarterback and being a leader.”

Just like a signal-caller must have proper Liberty Hill senior Macy Land (#12) has taken her opportunity for more playing time and excelled for the Lady Panthers down the stretch of the season. PHOTO BY ALEX RUBIO

chemistry on a gridiron with his receivers, a setter must achieve the same kind of cohesion with the hitters up front that are the beneficiaries of pinpoint passes before hammering them home for winners.

In Land’s case, her primary target is sophomore outside hitter Taylor Gaines, who Land has been feeding volleyballs to for some time now, she said.

“Taylor and I have been playing together since I was in eighth grade,” said Land. “We have a really good connection.”

But, to be an effective all-around provider, successful setters must develop pipelines with all of the big bombers at the net – each one with their own set of specifications for how they like the ball to be delivered.

“I’m always talking to my hitters,” said Land. “I need to get their feedback, so I can build their trust in me. After awhile, I can tell when I’m getting the ball to them the right way.”

It’s that kind of attention to detail that will serve Land well if she decides to pursue a career in a field that has become her favorite class in high school.

“I took forensic psychology first and now I’m studying forensic science,” said Land. “I find it all very interesting as far as the investigation of what happened at a crime scene.”

In fact, Land was privileged to be chosen from among her classmates for a visit to Texas State University’s forensic science department, where she had a rather close encounter with something usually reserved for most people for around the end of October, she said.

“We got to inspect some skeletal remains,” said Land. “Just some bones that had been completely cleaned and everything – it was pretty cool.”

Land is considering – in addition to a couple other institutions – Texas Tech University for her collegiate matriculation.

“I’m thinking about studying sociology and psychology with an aim toward criminology,” she said. “Besides, I really like Lubbock.”

One profession Land definitely won’t be pursuing in adulthood, though, is one she’s already had plenty of experience with during her younger years.

“I’ve been a babysitter and really enjoyed it,” said Land. “Kids anywhere from under a year old to seventh grade – I just like meeting all the interesting people and great kids.”

With all that being said, any horror stories concerning sparkies running wild and wreaking havoc while under her watchful eyes?

“No,” she said. “They’ve all been really good.”

Any trade secrets to share, then?

“I think one of the reasons is because I spend a lot of time interacting with them,” said Land. “You have to figure out what they like to do.”

Now that Land has found a regular home inside the lines as opposed to outside of them, one would never guess she has a long, storied history with injuries that have forced her to the sidelines in the past.

“I’ve torn the labrums in both of my shoulders,” she said. “In between those, I broke an ankle.”

However, with her physical woes firmly in the rear-view mirror, she can now clearly focus on the job in front of her – not to mention enjoying the fruits of her labor over the years in getting to this point.

“It really feels like an accomplishment getting to play,” said Land. “Being rewarded for all the hard work in practice and being noticed.”