ORONO — Sean Decloux has kicked 33 field goals for the University of Maine football team. But when he arrived three years ago, he actually thought punting was his strong suit.

He’s about to get a chance to showcase that part of his game. The senior from Ottawa, Ontario, is poised to become the first Black Bear to handle both place-kicking and punting since Jordan Waxman in 2009.

Decloux said he’s kept his right leg ready for the double duty.

“I kept punting over the summers, knowing that once Jeff (Ondish) left there was going to be an opportunity here,” he said.

“I like punting. It’s a really different craft. Seeing the ball flying through the air with a spiral on it versus just crushing it through the uprights is a completely different feeling. I’d honestly call it a little more of an art than I would field-goal kicking. There are more elements to it. The catch, you’ve got three steps, you’ve got to extend your arm, you’ve got to drop the ball perfectly. Whereas a field goal is just three steps and kick.”

Maine Coach Jack Cosgrove is hesitant to ask one kicker to handle kickoffs, field goals, extra points and punts. But he has confidence in Decloux, who has been booming his punts throughout summer practices.

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Still, there was a telling sequence midway through Friday morning’s session as the Black Bears prepare for the opener next Saturday at Boston College. Decloux sent a punt skyward that was downed at the 8-yard line.

“Not good enough!” Cosgrove barked before giving Decloux a fist bump.

Junior James De Martini then booted a punt down the right sideline that Najee Goode swallowed up at the 1-yard line. Coaches and players celebrated as if it had occurred in an actual game.

“It’s just a point,” Cosgrove said of his reaction to the punts. “Eight’s great but one’s better.”

De Martini has been so impressive in practice that Cosgrove is confident both punters will see time this year, possibly as early as the opening game. For De Martini, it would complete a remarkable tale of perseverance.

The native of Haddon Heights, New Jersey, came to Maine as a high school senior to play at Bridgton Academy, where his punting prowess caught the attention of the Black Bear coaches. Division III teams were looking at the 5-foot-9 De Martini as a wide receiver but his dream was to play Division I, so he agreed to come to Orono to use his leg.

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After a solid summer camp, however, it was discovered there was a problem with one of De Martini’s high school courses and he wasn’t eligible to compete. He transferred to Dean College in Massachusetts, where he spent the past two seasons becoming an all-Northeast Football Conference punter while earning an associate’s degree, all the while planning to return to Maine.

“I used that as motivation and just kept my head on the right path,” De Martini said. “I worked hard, got the grades, made sure I was able to come back. Since the University of Maine wanted me back, I thought it was the right fit. I looked at that as a huge sign of respect. A lot of schools up there at this level, they go to the next guy.”

Cosgrove kept tabs on De Martini during his time away and was pleasantly surprised when he returned as promised. He can’t remember another player doing that in his 23 years as coach. The punter who came back was also much better than the one he remembered from the summer of 2013.

De Martini said he lost 20 pounds in the past four months, down to 205, after a regimen of running and some pickup basketball. He’s kicking better than ever and vowed to be ready if called on.

Cosgrove is happy to have what he considers two strong options at a position whose importance often gets overlooked. And he’s making sure to preserve those valuable legs, writing “no kicks!” on the daily practice schedules for Decloux and De Martini. He’s even removed the sideline netting typically used for warmups to eliminate one temptation.

“I tell them, ‘work on your techniques and your steps.’ I just don’t want them to actually kick it,” Cosgrove said of the kickers’ downtime during practices, in which Decloux already averages about 20 kicks per day as part of his routine.

“I took away the net. Otherwise they’ll kick. That’s what they do. They get bored. They’ll wear themselves out.”

 


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