MaxPreps named Canyon High School’s Jarrett Reeser to the 2019 California All-State First Team on Thursday on MaxPreps.com.
Reeser received the honors for his punting abilities this season. The Cowboys’ punter and kicker led California with an average of 47.1 yards per punt. He also showed a level of accuracy rare in high school kickers, placing opposing offenses inside the 20-yard line 30 times in 2019.
“I knew I kept punting a lot and racked up a lot of yards, but it was just crazy when I saw my name with all those other talented athletes,” Reeser said. “It’s an accomplishment for someone like myself as a junior. When you see the names on that list, it’s beyond humbling.”
He was one of only six juniors named to the first-team squad and the only punter on the California All-State list.
Reeser attributes his success to his mental strength. In high-pressure situations, he has the ability to keep his composure and deliver a clutch performance.
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“The thing that has gotten me to where I’m at right now is being able to make kicks when they matter the most,” he said. “That’s probably my strongest asset in my opinion.”
There are two types of kickers in football, according to Reeser. There are kickers who want their team to march down the field and score so they can trot onto the field and kick the point after. Then there are kickers on the other end of the spectrum. They want to be placed back and away from the goalposts with the game on the line. Players like that thrive under pressure.
“I’m the type that wants that kick,” Reeser said.
Although Reeser is flourishing in the sport, Reeser didn’t always see himself as a football player. Just over a year ago, he was primarily a soccer player until his father suggested that he try kicking field goals to see if he can.
“I just went out and started making them,” Reeser said. “That’s how I fell in love with the game.”
As it turned out, Reeser had quite the talent for kicking footballs through the uprights. This season he made six of his seven field-goal attempts and made 27-of- 28 point-after-attempts. He even made field goals from as far as 43 yards.
In his short tenure as a kicker, Reeser has earned All-League honors twice. He was named First-Team All-League as a sophomore, while he was still attending high school in the bay area. This year, as a junior, he was named Second-Team All-Foothill League.
Now, with one more season of high school football left on his docket, he looks to improve from his All-State honors and become one of the best kicking recruits in the country. However, he plans to never forget where he started.
“It’s crazy to think just one year ago I started kicking and made first-team all-state a year later,” he said. “It goes to show it doesn’t matter where you play, you just have to perform. It’s beyond motivating to me that I’ve come this far in a year with a year to go.”
