Evan Massey (Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress).
EASLEY — The kicking game.
You don’t hear too much about it unless there is a missed field goal or a botched punt.
Locally, Evan Massey is the kicker and punter for the Easley High School football team. He’s entering his senior year with a pretty good goal, too.
Massey said he wants to: “Knock down some field goals, hit the punts right and do some good.”
Massey could have, potentially, a really good senior season. He knocked down a 25-yard field goal last year in a game as a junior and that’s his furthest. However, Massey said that he’s hit a 52-yard field goal in practice.
In the classroom, Massey has an overall grade point average of 4.2.
Massey still remembers when he and classmate Drew Sanders were kicking on the junior varsity level. Sanders, though, decided to devote all his attention to soccer and Massey continued his pursuit on kicking as “the guy” for the Green Wave football team.
How did he get started throwing the javelin?
“I started throwing in baseball at age 4 or 5,” Massey said. “Then, I came into track in eighth grade and I wanted to do something different than just running.
The weight room: Massey currently stands in at a little over 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds. He said he’d like to get a diet going and gain at least another 15 or 20 pounds of muscle.
His effort in the weight room should pay off, too.
“Evan is a great kid,” said EHS strength coach Justin Houng. “He’s kind of been like another coach in here – both from the standard of his work ethic and how he’s helped other guys. He’s always asking me what can I do to get better and he’s always pushing on his own. He never really trained much with all the sports that he does, but you never have to worry if he is working hard or missing reps.”
Evan is the son of Suzanne and Mark Massey.
Did you know? Evan looks up to Jake Bates who kicks for the Detroit Lions.
His future: Make no mistake about it, Massey’s favorite sport is still track and field. He currently holds the school record at EHS in the javelin (170 feet, 10 inches) and is planning to continue that in college. “I’m really proud of that (the school record),” Massey said. “I feel like I’ve worked really hard for it.”
When asked what college he might go to, he said, “I have no clue yet where I want to go yet. Hopefully next year will bring me some great opportunities.”