Semoball

The ups and downs of being the Southeast placekicker

"I hate short goalposts."

Kendrick Tiller is a football player for Southeast Missouri State. Unlike most everyone else on the field of play, he has no true human opponent.

He doesn't run the ball or catch it.

He doesn't block.

He doesn't tackle.

If he happens to do any of the aforementioned, something went awry.

Tiller is the starting Southeast placekicker.

He's had the job since the middle of the 2018 season.

Every time Tiller enters a game, something is on the line.

The team needs points — either a field goal or a point after touchdown.

Like all of us, Tiller would like to bend reality to his will.

"Short goalposts (mess up) my aiming," Tiller said.

"I pick a spot at the top of them and that's my target."

When the posts are too short, as they are at Southern Illinois Carbondale or Jacksonville State, he has to imagine his aiming point.

Southeast Missouri State's Kendrick Tiller (37) kicks the ball near Tennessee Tech defensive back Cameron Hudson (10) and Southeast Missouri State tight end Eric Williams (88) during the Redhawks' 43-37 double-overtime win against the Golden Eagles Saturday at Houck Stadium.
Jacob Wiegand

When a single kick can mean the difference between winning and losing, Tiller — who graduates in May — would prefer not to guess.

Saturday at Houck Stadium, without the excuse of short goalposts, Tiller admittedly had a "rough night" against Tennessee Tech.

Tiller failed on two of six point-after-touchdown attempts, including a miss in double overtime that left the Redhawks precariously up only by six.

Tennessee Tech did not convert on the succeeding (and final) drive, preserving Southeast's third win of the season, a 43-37 victory.

Tiller, after a deep sigh of relief, was remorseful about his performance.

"I felt awful all night," Tiller said. "I (felt) off for the first time in my career."

He wasn't physically ill. He thinks his mechanics are off.

"I think my hips aren't staying square."

Tiller connected on a 35-yard third quarter field goal but it wasn't pretty.

The ball hit both uprights before dropping over the crossbar.

"That was weird," Tiller admitted. "I've got to look at the film (this week)."

Redhawk Coach Tom Matukewicz tried to put Tiller's strange outing in perspective.

"Our specialists have been good," Matukewicz promised. "We'll get it fixed.

"(Those errors) bother (the players) more than you and me combined."

Tiller has a full scholarship to do the one thing he found so difficult Saturday — put the ball through the uprights.

The job of a placekicker is never safe. If you have a bad day, the team may well turn to somebody else. The stakes are that high.

"There is competition every year," Tiller said. "And sometimes it's week to week."

Tlller was born in Springfield, Missouri and raised an hour away in Lebanon.

Like many youngsters, Tiller started off in soccer but gave it up in the 6th grade.

He decided to play football.

"I wanted to be a wide receiver or a safety," Tiller admitted.

Opportunity knocked at Lebanon as a freshman.

"Our kicker rolled his ankle in week four or five," Tiller said. "So I gave it a shot. It seemed the quickest route to starting."

His first game he went 3-for-3 in field goals and had four touchbacks. Tiller relishes kickoffs, even though that role on the Redhawks now belongs to teammate Adam Krause.

"I love kicking the ball as far as it will go."

One prep gridiron game is vivid in Tiller's memory.

Lebanon was down by two to visiting Waynesville.

"There were 48 seconds left," he recalled.

"It was a 47-yarder and I drilled it down the middle," Tiller said. "We won."

Tiller was reminded of an NFL game last Thursday that came down to a last-second field goal try.

Tiller smiled knowingly.

"You mean Zuerlein."

Greg Zuerlein came into the game with the visiting Los Angeles Rams needing their kicker to convert a late fourth-quarter 44-yard field goal to give his team the win at Seattle.

Zuerlein pushed it just inches to the right as time expired. Rams lose.

"I have not missed one in that situation," Tiller said.

At least not yet.

Tiller, who converted 9-of-11 field goals in 2018 with three extra points missed — and two of those blocked — says he'll always remember the Montana State game this season.

"The 55-yarder I kicked (in the 38-17 loss) was the biggest field goal of my life," he said.

Tiller has had a personal mentor with pro credentials since high school.

"I found Shane Andrus on Facebook and reached out to him," Tiller said.

Andrus, who lives in Murray, Kentucky, spent time on the rosters of four NFL teams with an ankle injury forcing his retirement from the San Francisco 49ers in 2010.

"Shane told me he'd give me a 90-minute lesson," Tiller said.

The two have kept in touch ever since.

"I don't know what the stats are for sure," Tiller said, "but I think as many as a third of NFL games are won by the kicker."

Tiller has one year of eligibility remaining and he intends to kick if Coach Tom Matukewicz wants him in 2020.

"He's a great player and person," Matukewicz said. "And he has a really hard major."

"Coach Tuke tells us all the time to use football to pay for your education," Tiller said, "so I'm doing it."

Tiller is pursuing a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering but he admits to dreaming about playing professionally.

"I'd love to kick (in the NFL), but ultimately I want my degree."

Tiller got a summer job in a machine shop before his senior year at Lebanon and rubbed shoulders with toolmakers and engineers.

"I like solving problems," Tiller explained, "and I'd love to work for General Motors or a big boat company."

"That'd be cool."

Tiller has a lot of support from his mother who has shot video of his kicking since high school.

"She comes to all the Southeast home games with her camera," Tiller said, "and some of the away games."

Kicking successfully, Tiller insists, requires a laser focus.

"When I start taking my steps (toward the ball), all distractions fade away. I'm focused only on the holder's hand."

It sounds like Tiller might have coaching chops.

"Yes, I'd like to coach," Tiller said. "I have given tips to a couple of high school kids who called me."

His advice to anyone following in his footsteps is placekicking is a solitary business.

"The coaches have to prioritize; they have to run drills for offense and defense," Tiller said. "They don't have time to spend with you."

"You have to do your own work and it takes a lot of hours."

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: