West Springfield Kicker Has a Leg Up

Well, it's an easy (and cliched) headline. But it's true. West Springfield Coach Bill Renner is regarded as the region's authority on kicking, and he says that senior Tyler Bitancurt is the best he's ever coached or seen on film.

Bitancurt has made 13 of 14 field goal attempts this season, the latest a 19-yard chip shot in the closing seconds to give West Springfield a 30-28 victory over Robinson this past Friday in a Virginia AAA Northern Region Division 6 semifinal.

Making things a bit more challenging, Renner said, Bitancurt kicks off the ground instead of using the plastic block that high school players are allowed to kick off. Renner said that 90 percent of Bitancurt's kicks the past two years have gone for touchbacks, including one recent game where he sent three kickoffs through the uprights.

"This kid is as good as any kid in the country," Renner said. "He's such a weapon for us. If we sdcore, you're starting at the 20."

Renner expects that Bitancurt should begin receiving scholarship offers soon.