With Glacier Peak’s football season on the line, as well as the team’s run of never missing the postseason in school history, the Grizzlies turned to kicker Spencer Pettit, who delivered his finest performance in the Oct. 27 game against Edmonds-Woodway.
For that, the senior is the winner of The Herald’s inaugural All-Area football Special Teams Player of the Year.
On the final play of the second quarter against Edmonds-Woodway, Pettit broke a scoreless tie with a career-long 56-yard field goal. On the final play of the game, he broke a 17-17 tie with a 45-yarder that sent his team to the playoffs.
“By far the best game I’ve ever played in,” Pettit said. “To top it off, that was to make the playoffs. Glacier Peak’s never not been in the playoffs … . That was the biggest game I’ve ever played in. They’ve sent me out for a lot of 50-yard field goals, but to end the half I make the 56-yarder and then I get another chance to win it with a 45-yarder, which was amazing.”
Pettit, who is ranked eighth nationally by high-school kicking expert Chris Sailer, has kicked several 50-plus yard field goals and even more from 40-50 yards in his career at Glacier Peak. The Edmonds-Woodway game provided him with a signature moment — two in fact — that he had lacked in his previous games.
“He had kicked a 50-yarder before, but in that magnitude, in those two moments, those are big moments where we really needed him and he gave us the lift that kind of put us over the top,” Glacier Peak head coach Rory Rosenbach said. “It was kind of a signature moment for him to say, ‘Hey, look guys, I make the kicks in the big moments.’”
Admittedly, having a kicker like Pettit changed Rosenbach’s coaching style in certain situations. Late in the first half against Edmonds-Woodway, rather than go for a touchdown, Rosenbach felt comfortable giving Pettit a chance to get the Grizzlies their first points.
“The conditions were good and I’ve seen him kick kicks that long before in practice,” Rosenbach said. “I knew he could make it. It was just one of those things where you’re like, ‘It would be pretty big if he made this right here for us.’ You could just sense that when he made that kick that our spirits as a team lifted and we went into halftime in a much better place than if he hadn’t.”
For Pettit, the length of the field goal actually takes some of the pressure off him.
“If I miss it, it’s a 56-yarder,” Pettit said. “He (Rosenbach) knows that it’s tough, especially with the hold and snap and everything. If I’m out there practicing, I know a 56-yarder is a lot easier, but if I go out there in a game, it’s the same kick every time. If I just focus on that then I have a better chance of making it.”
As if the 56-yarder wasn’t impressive enough, Rosenbach called on Pettit again on the final play of the game. Pettit answered with his first game-winning kick.
“It probably helped that it was 17-17, so if I miss we’ve still got overtime — but I’m not counting on missing,” Pettit said. “I’ve made big kicks, insurance kicks, to make sure the win was in hand, but I’ve never made a game-winner. It just felt amazing.”
Giving Pettit a chance at the win was Rosenbach’s plan all along going into the Grizzlies’ final offensive possession.
“The game-winner, that was a no-brainer,” Rosenbach said. “He’s money. That was kind of the plan all along that whole drive was to just get inside the 50. If we’re inside the 50, I really, really like our chances.”
It took Rosenbach a while to get used to having a kicker as good as Pettit. Things were a little different when before Rosenbach’s coaching days.
“When I was in high school, you found the kid that could kick the ball the farthest and he was your kicker,” Rosenbach said. “If he made a 35-yarder that was a big deal.”
It wasn’t just field goals where Pettit excelled. He also was named punter on The Hrald’s All-Area first team and he handled kickoff duties for the Grizzlies, having a better than 70 percent touchback rate in his high school career. In addition to his special teams contributions, he also played defensive back.
“He was a heck of a player for us on defense this year and he was captain,” Rosenbach said. “He’s just been a great leader. His work-ethic as a kicker and as a complete football player has been something that other guys have looked to and emulated and admired. Hopefully that’s rubbed off on the younger guys and they’ll continue that. He’s meant a lot to us, obviously in the kicking game, but in all facets of our program. He’s just been a great piece of our program that the coaches aren’t going to forget a long time. He’s a big part of what we did the last three or four years.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
