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#3 Jack Cantele |
Position: Kicker Previous College: None Projection: Second-String Status: On Scholarship |
Jack Gregory Cantele (b. July 1, 1992) is a talented senior who served as the full-time place kicker in 2013.
Although he was demoted last season to backup kicker, Cantele is two extra points and three field goals shy of entering the school’s top-10 lists in both categories. He was voted a player representative in both 2014 and 2015.
Cantele played three years at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School, where he was an all-state selection by the Kansas Football Coaches Association, The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Wichita Eagle as a senior.
He helped his high school team to win three straight district championships, and he booted more than 50 touchbacks and made 15 field goals. He redshirted in 2011 and did not see any game action in 2012.
But in 2013, Cantele finished as one of the top place-kickers in the Big 12 Conference after connecting on 11 of 13 field goals. He finished fourth in the Big 12 with an 84.6 kicking percentage, sixth in field goals (1.10 per game), seventh in overall scoring (7.3 points per game) and sixth in kick scoring despite missing the last three games.
He was 8 for 10 in league action to rank third in percentage, and ranked second among sophomores in school history with 73 points and fifth in school history in season percentage.
Cantele also finished just outside the school's single-season top-10 list in field goals and extra points (40).
He earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors after going 4 for 4 against TCU, which included the game-winning 41-yarder with three seconds remaining. A miss of any of those four would have cost us the game.
Cantele's game-winning boot was the Wildcats' first game-winning field goal with less than one minute remaining since 1980, while his four makes tied for second in school history. He also was first-team Academic All-Big 12.
That was the high-water mark for Cantele, though. Last season was a bit of a disaster for him when he melted down against Auburn, missing three field goals in the six-point loss, followed by a missed PAT against UTEP.
That led to the beginning of the so-far reliable Matthew McCrane era. But it wasn't all bad for Cantele, who saw action in seven games, serving as the primary place kicker in the first three contests.
He made 5 of 9 field goals on the year, including a season-long 43-yarder against Stephen F. Austin, one of two field goals made against the Lumberjacks, and two at Iowa State, including a 41-yarder.
Cantele also was true on all six extra-point attempts against SFA and made a 39-yard field goal against Kansas. He once again earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors. But now he's left waiting for McCrane to make a mistake.