Greg Guttas • Class of 2009 • Kickers

 

Player Review

Greg is a solid kicker.  He is big, tall, strong, and athletic. Shows the potential to be a great college level kicker. Has shown improvement each time we see him. Also show the ability to be a talented punter. Definite college player!

Accomplishments

2009 Strong Camp Performances:
7th Annual National Kicking Event
 
Strong showing at the CA Nike Fall Camp - 2008
 
Potential Combo Player (K/P)
 
Top prep kickers elicit oohs and aahs
Jake Leonard, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
(10-21) 20:23 PDT -- There were plenty of ooh-and-aah moments in Serra's 41-14 home win over Sacred Heart Cathedral two weeks ago, but none of the long runs, acrobatic catches or crunching hits received quite the ovation of a simple first-quarter kickoff.

Kicking from his 40-yard line (the standard in high school), Padres senior Greg Guttas booted a ball that deflected high off of the left upright - missing the equivalent of a 70-yard field goal by a few inches and drawing a standing round of applause from Serra fans and a collective grimace from the Sacred Heart sideline.

"Sacred Heart will start at its own 20-yard line," the announcer happily chimed.
"... Again," Irish running back Dasarte Yarnway added unenthusiastically as he took the field.
Against Serra, a team is lucky to start one series past that marker.
Good kickers and punters are rarer in high school football than good linebackers or running backs. When they're as good as Guttas - or a few others around the Bay Area, including Campolindo-Moraga's Jackson Rice, Miramonte-Orinda's Matt Lloyd and Valley Christian's Phillip Thrappas - those specialists can make just as much difference to a team as a player at a marquee position.
Guttas has sent all but one of his non-squib kickoffs into the end zone this season. In high school, where any kickoff in the end zone is an automatic touchback, that means a long field for the opposing offense after every Serra score.
"It's adding insult to injury - we score, then Greg comes out and you don't even have a chance at a return," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "It gives a huge psychological advantage to our defense against opposing offenses - knowing they're going to have to go 80 yards, every time, no matter what. That's a lot of field to cover, for any high school team."
Guttas' booming kickoffs and high-hanging punts have limited opponents to 45 return yards this season, and have helped ninth-ranked Serra (3-3, 2-1 West Catholic Athletic League) stay in games against No. 2 De La Salle-Concord and No. 3 Valley Christian. The Padres lost those two games by a combined three points.
Against No. 1 Bellarmine on Friday at San Jose City College , Guttas will be charged with neutralizing Stanford-bound running back Usua Amanam's skills as a return man.
"It's definitely more important than ever to get as much hang time as I can and put all my kickoffs in the end zone this week," Guttas said. "Starting at your own 20 every time is just about the most frustrating thing in football and it lets our defense mess up once or twice without giving up points."
Guttas has been named the WCAL's Kicker of the Year in both of his varsity seasons, turning his focus to kicking and punting after his freshman year. Walsh told him at the time that all the team needed was a kicker who could put kickoffs in the end zone.
"He was able to do that right away, and it helped us win the league title that year," Walsh said. "We had a bend-don't-break defense, and teams would constantly go 70 yards on us, then not finish their drives."
Colleges are often slow to commit full scholarships to kickers and punters, which Walsh said is the reason Guttas, a good student, hasn't received any scholarship offers.
Campolindo's Rice received interest from four major colleges - Oregon , Washington , Alabama and LSU - after spending last summer showcasing his skills at Southern California camps run by esteemed kicking coach Chris Sailer.
"I excelled at the camps and Sailer is great at getting your name out there," said Rice, who committed to Oregon early in the process. " Oregon brought me up twice, and right away offered me a scholarship. The other schools weren't sure they wanted to commit a full scholarship to a punter."
After playing linebacker as a junior, Rice is exclusively a punter this season (a choice which, he said, was fully supported by his mother).
In a 7-0 win for No. 21 Campolindo (5-1, 1-0 Diablo Foothill Athletic League) over Miramonte-Orinda on Friday, he had three punts of more than 40 yards, including a 46-yarder in the fourth that pinned Miramonte on its 2-yard line. Campolindo hosts Dublin on Friday.
"Our team has done well this year, so punting really hasn't been a factor in most of our games," Rice said. "I was definitely able to contribute against Miramonte, though. It helps our defense when the other team's offense is always starting from its own side of the field."
E-mail Jake Leonard at [email protected].