The space between indoor goal posts is half that of outdoor football.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Who will be the Mahoning Valley Thunder's placekicker this spring and summer in the team's inaugural season as a member of the af2 league?
Apparently it will be Derek Schorejs (pronounced Shore-eyes) of Columbiana, a former Bowling Green placekicker who already has acquired four years of experience kicking in the parent Arena Football League.
Schorejs is the only placekicker left on the Thunder's roster after Nick Terracina of Girard, a native of Lake Charles, La., and a former Youngstown State placekicker, was cut from the team along with three other players last Tuesday to reduce the team's roster from 30 to 26.
Terracina, who has only five games of indoor kicking experience with the Steubenville Stampede of the American Indoor Football League last season, was reassigned back to the af2 but is hoping eventually to be recalled by the Thunder.
He was joined on the departure list by Matt Rycraft, a quarterback from YSU and West Branch High; Jeff Hether, a two-way lineman from Clarion, West Middlesex High and Hubbard; and Chad Allen, a two-way lineman from Miami (Ohio).
The Thunder further reduced its roster to 22 players and then the final 18 Saturday, with the last three to go composing the taxi squad.
So Schorejs has won the starting job and the demanding challenge of thumping footballs through the more-narrow space between goal posts and over the higher crossbars, when the Thunder launches its franchise Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre on Cortland Banks Field against the Tri-Cities Fever at 7:05 p.m.
Accuracy is the byword
Accuracy is all-important in the af2 because the space between uprights is only 9 feet compared with 18 feet for outdoor football, while the height of the crossbar is 15 feet instead of 10 feet.
"The biggest challenge is just kicking it straight," said Schorejs, a native of Westerville and a graduate of Westervile North High, who moved to Columbiana, which is his wife Kathy's hometown.
But he said that being able to kick for distance becomes more important the further you are away from the goalposts, especially around the 50-yard line.
"Because of the higher cross bar, the distance you have to kick is farther than outside because the ball has to travel farther," said Schorejs, who has kicked for four AFL teams — the Florida Bobcats (1998), New Jersey Reddogs (2000) and the Philadelphia Soul and San Jose SaberCats (both in 2005). "There probably is a 2 or 3 yards' difference — a 55-yarder outdoors will be a 57- or 58-yarder inside."
And, "The requirement for accuracy is greater the farther away you are."
His professional career
Schorejs, who kicked for Bowling Green four years from 1992-95, launched his professional career in 1997 with the Arizona Rattlers of the AFL, but only for training camp.
He also participated in training camps with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2002), Browns and New York Jets (both in 2001) and the Cincinnati Bengals (1999).
He has built an AFL career record of 14-for-45 (31.1 percent) attempting field goals, and 124-for-142 (87.3 percent) trying extra points.
Schorejs also has some NFL affiliations, including with the Cleveland Browns, which allocated him to NFL Europe in 2004, where he played for the Cologne Centurions. He appeared in 10 games with the Centurions, connecting on 6-for-7 in field goals with two kicks over 50 yards, his only miss being a 56-yarder.
But Schorejs can kick for distance. He still holds the Bowling Green record for the longest field goal with a 60-yard kick versus Toledo in 1995.
Preparation for kicking
How does Schorejs prepare to kick?
"Well, I practice and try to fine-tune my technique so that I kick every ball straight. I pick a target in the center of the crossbar," said Schorej. And, "When I am kicking my best, I am kicking a dead-straight ball."
He explained that during an extra-point attempts, "the ball is placed at the 21/2-yard line and the kick is tried from the 10, so that it will be an 18-yard PAT."
But it still is a challenge to split the uprights. "You have room for error because you are closer, but you still have to kick it straight," he said, noting that there are more misses in indoor football than outdoor.
How important is it for the defense to limit the offense to a field goal?
"A field goal probably is considered half a stop, and a field goal miss a full stop," said Schorejs, who predicts high-scoring games.
"There will be a lot more touchdowns [scored] inside than outside. A team will score 40 or 50 points. I've been in games as high as 70 points," said Schorejs, who believes the percentage ratio between TDs and FGs is 80-20, and hopes he can supply most of the 20.
kovach@vindy.com
Monday, March 26, 2007
The space between indoor goal posts is half that of outdoor football.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Who will be the Mahoning Valley Thunder's placekicker this spring and summer in the team's inaugural season as a member of the af2 league?
Apparently it will be Derek Schorejs (pronounced Shore-eyes) of Columbiana, a former Bowling Green placekicker who already has acquired four years of experience kicking in the parent Arena Football League.
Schorejs is the only placekicker left on the Thunder's roster after Nick Terracina of Girard, a native of Lake Charles, La., and a former Youngstown State placekicker, was cut from the team along with three other players last Tuesday to reduce the team's roster from 30 to 26.
Terracina, who has only five games of indoor kicking experience with the Steubenville Stampede of the American Indoor Football League last season, was reassigned back to the af2 but is hoping eventually to be recalled by the Thunder.
He was joined on the departure list by Matt Rycraft, a quarterback from YSU and West Branch High; Jeff Hether, a two-way lineman from Clarion, West Middlesex High and Hubbard; and Chad Allen, a two-way lineman from Miami (Ohio).
The Thunder further reduced its roster to 22 players and then the final 18 Saturday, with the last three to go composing the taxi squad.
So Schorejs has won the starting job and the demanding challenge of thumping footballs through the more-narrow space between goal posts and over the higher crossbars, when the Thunder launches its franchise Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre on Cortland Banks Field against the Tri-Cities Fever at 7:05 p.m.
Accuracy is the byword
Accuracy is all-important in the af2 because the space between uprights is only 9 feet compared with 18 feet for outdoor football, while the height of the crossbar is 15 feet instead of 10 feet.
"The biggest challenge is just kicking it straight," said Schorejs, a native of Westerville and a graduate of Westervile North High, who moved to Columbiana, which is his wife Kathy's hometown.
But he said that being able to kick for distance becomes more important the further you are away from the goalposts, especially around the 50-yard line.
"Because of the higher cross bar, the distance you have to kick is farther than outside because the ball has to travel farther," said Schorejs, who has kicked for four AFL teams — the Florida Bobcats (1998), New Jersey Reddogs (2000) and the Philadelphia Soul and San Jose SaberCats (both in 2005). "There probably is a 2 or 3 yards' difference — a 55-yarder outdoors will be a 57- or 58-yarder inside."
And, "The requirement for accuracy is greater the farther away you are."
His professional career
Schorejs, who kicked for Bowling Green four years from 1992-95, launched his professional career in 1997 with the Arizona Rattlers of the AFL, but only for training camp.
He also participated in training camps with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2002), Browns and New York Jets (both in 2001) and the Cincinnati Bengals (1999).
He has built an AFL career record of 14-for-45 (31.1 percent) attempting field goals, and 124-for-142 (87.3 percent) trying extra points.
Schorejs also has some NFL affiliations, including with the Cleveland Browns, which allocated him to NFL Europe in 2004, where he played for the Cologne Centurions. He appeared in 10 games with the Centurions, connecting on 6-for-7 in field goals with two kicks over 50 yards, his only miss being a 56-yarder.
But Schorejs can kick for distance. He still holds the Bowling Green record for the longest field goal with a 60-yard kick versus Toledo in 1995.
Preparation for kicking
How does Schorejs prepare to kick?
"Well, I practice and try to fine-tune my technique so that I kick every ball straight. I pick a target in the center of the crossbar," said Schorej. And, "When I am kicking my best, I am kicking a dead-straight ball."
He explained that during an extra-point attempts, "the ball is placed at the 21/2-yard line and the kick is tried from the 10, so that it will be an 18-yard PAT."
But it still is a challenge to split the uprights. "You have room for error because you are closer, but you still have to kick it straight," he said, noting that there are more misses in indoor football than outdoor.
How important is it for the defense to limit the offense to a field goal?
"A field goal probably is considered half a stop, and a field goal miss a full stop," said Schorejs, who predicts high-scoring games.
"There will be a lot more touchdowns [scored] inside than outside. A team will score 40 or 50 points. I've been in games as high as 70 points," said Schorejs, who believes the percentage ratio between TDs and FGs is 80-20, and hopes he can supply most of the 20.
kovach@vindy.com
Monday, March 26, 2007
Who will be the Mahoning Valley Thunder's placekicker this spring and summer in the team's inaugural season as a member...
