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Show ports & Outdoors SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY THE THUNDERBIRD THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1989 ' PAGE 'V V, ' v t fi srt Thunderbird Assistant Coach Andy Thornburg is one who truly believes in the power of the (goon squad to win b allgames. f W f TO ' w V' Andy Thornburg Marxen fuels special teams corps '''V x 'v MX W SUSC kicker Herkey Marxen, the colleges mental. I like the pressure; I like the challenge forward of to leading scorer, looking having the game determined by a kick. Of Saturdays WFC opener against Sacramento course, I havent been the goat yet. State. Marxen has been the hero on several is to play on a occasions. The most dramatic was in 1987 Among my aspirations g when he booted a last minute championship team, says Marxen. This is the do it. we can field goal in a year Marxen, who has Thunderbird Stadium SUSC Special Teams Statistics fooled most of the snow storm against Cal SUSC student body Poly-Sa- n Luis Obispo. into thinking he was After years of playing, christened Herkey, is soccer, the 21 year-old actually named John communications major , Leonard Marxen. decided he wanted to Herkey grew out of a play football. He childhood nickname, reported to then Head Hercules, earned Coach Chuck Gerber because of his strength at Bishop Gorman as a baby. High in Las Vegas, By self admission, Nev., and together they Marxen is not shy. determined that he was Actually, Im cocky, too small to do he says, but thats one anything but kick. He of the reasons Im a has since grown to and weighs 205 pounds. good place kicker. Other factors in After all that soccer, Marxens success as a kicker are his ability to came kicking just naturally, says Marxen. I handle the pressure of game situations, the didnt do too well as a junior; I actually lost confidence of his teammates, and a strong the- field goal job midseason. I still did the right-foote- d kick thats consistently soccer-styl- e g kickoffs, and I finally won the job 50 accurate up to back late in the season. Bishop Gorman has a yards. Unlike most soccer-styl- e kickers, my kicks great kicking history. I kick hook. a very straight have dont It was a game against Bonanza High early in any his senior year that triggered Marxens ball, and that helps a lot with my accuracy; I dont have to do any compensating for a confidence and interest in playing college football. The rest of the year, he stirred the hook, he explains. Like many kickers, Herkey is superstitious. interest of several college coaches. In the e ritual that He readily admits to a Bonanza game he split the uprights with five includes a shower 20 minutes before kickoff and field goals, four of them from 35 yards or farther. The longest sailed 53 yards. personal meditation and prayer. He insists on wearing the same pair of stockings (washed Herkey was named to first team allhe has the for Greek and and weekly) teams as a conference, every game, back of Nu letters Sigma and painted on the high school senior. Also on that years Bishop his helmet. Gorman team were Kelvin Minefee and Blake Ezor. Marxen has been successful enough to twice Besides playing on a championship SUSC earn second team honors on the him show statistics team. His three-yea- r kicking team, Marxen has other aspirations. He wants his and 83 90 of of a degree, he wants to get married, and he extra point attempts hitting 25 of 42 of his field goal tries. So far this wants a career in broadcasting... after he gets a season he is 7 in PATs and 6 in field goals. chance to kick for an NFL team. I can do it, I Im 100 percent better as a kicker than he says. I want to kick in the NFL, it doesnt was my first year here, Marxen says. Now, I matter which team. feel that from up to 50 yards, its a sure bet If he continues to improve over previous 80 is To me time. kicking every percent years, he could get his chance. all-tim- is e W game-winnin- -- ' A - bm - a v, v tu t ' u Sz: v: $ Tx1' V . '' u . i ' n "s U'SJ&X;'1 A'' n x i r,v fc '' S.y S 'S: X ; tX XX, S' ' XXixT' Steve McDowell practices his $A w v X drop-kic- k, ' ' ' O ' x ' MO v XX xX style of punting. Numbers L to new SUSC puntei But he averages 41.1 yards a punt anyway BY JEFF DOWER 5-- - place-kickin- pre-gam- n, all-WF- 7-- 6-- C all-sta- te On every football team there is a player who gets in the game maybe four or five times, but who is nevertheless considered one of the most important players on the team. His job is bittersweet. Though liked, nobody wants to see him on the field. SUSCs punter, Steve McDowell, gladly d transfer from accepts the difficult role. The Mesa Junior College has excelled on the football field this year. In SUSCs first three games, he has booted the ball 10 times, averaging 41.1 yards per kick, which is good enough to lead the Western Football Conference. McDowell came to SUSC because of the good academic reputation the school has, particularly in the psychology department. McDowell has set a goal of graduating with a psychology degree with an emphasis in learning theory. I would like to help kids with learning disabilities, says McDowell. But the ambitious punter has not ruled out the possibility of going to law school. McDowell also chose SUSC because of the close proximity of the mountains and outdoor recreation. I enjoy the outdoors, he says. I like to go hiking and take in the beauty of the outdoors. That same reverence translates into superstitions on the athletic circuit. I always like to go through the same routine, says McDowell. I have always laced my shoes the same way the inside lace has to go under the outside lace. Throughout high school, and while at Mesa, I had a left-foot- ed 6-- 3, 200-poun- (CONTINUED ON PAGE 22) 21 |