On Saturday, Will Lang will travel to Moorhead to face the Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans as the punter and kicker for the Pearl River Community College Wildcats.
The Inverness native may be kicking in his final collegiate football game. But then again, a football can take some strange bounces.
As a kid, Lang attended Central Delta Academy and started playing football in the third grade.
A few years later on his first trip to a college game at Ole Miss, he told his daddy, Garrott, that he wanted to be a college football player. His daddy gave him some sage advice.
“I said, ‘son, your momma’s short and you’ve got a little bit of the short gene in you so you better learn how to kick a football,’” Garrott said. “And that’s what started it.”
Will took his father’s advice and started kicking. He’d practice in Inverness on the CDA field that was long vacant due to the school paring back to grades K-5.
“I picked up an interest in it and kicked around the house and around school and then I went to a few camps and learned some stuff (Carol White’s Kick Aid camps) from some people who knew what they were talking about. From there it was on and I just fell in love with it,” Lang said.
One of his instructors at Kick Aid, Cole Allison, noted Lang’s determination.
“Will works hard. I’ve had him since early middle school. I know what he can do on the field as well as the classroom (a 3.4 GPA and member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society),” Allison said. “He’s a good student as well as a good athlete. I’ve seen him grow over the last six or eight years into the kid he is. I wish nothing but the best for Will. The first time I saw him kick a ball I knew he had potential. We just needed to get him fine-tuned and get him to understand the game of kicking.”
“Will was eligible to play Division I football after high school but instead of walking on at a four-year school, we decided to go to the JUCO route since Mississippi has the best and toughest JUCO division in the United States,” Garrott said.
Lang first caught the eyes of college recruiters as the kicker for Indianola Academy where he set records and won an MAIS AAA Championship.
IA Head Coach Tommy Nester relied on Lang to kick extra points and field goals but loved his “defensive kicking” game.
“He took an interest in kicking and went off to camps and learned how to kick and he worked at it and got better and earned himself a scholarship,” Coach Nester said. “He set some scoring records (187 points in a season.) But it’s nice for your defense when you’ve got a guy who can hit the endzone (with kickoffs). That’s saving 10 to 15 yards or so and a big advantage for you in field position. You like to see people who work hard to be successful and he was never scared of going out and working and getting better.”
That hard work caught the attention of just about every community college across the Magnolia State and after being heavily recruited Lang decided to attend Northeast Community College.
After a year there, he transferred to Pearl River Community College and has taken on the punting and kicking duties this season.
Though the record book (currently 1-7 on the year) doesn’t reflect much success, Lang was recently named the JUCO Special Teams Player of the Week with his performance against Southwest CC. Lang helped the Wildcats to a 37-9 win with his four of five PATs, a 38-yard field goal, kickoffs and his nine punts for 290 yards – one for 48 and three landed inside the opponents 20-yard line.
“We had another guy who was punting but he tore his groin in the second game of the season. I found out at halftime I was taking over everything,” Lang said. “Growing up, I was an Eli Manning/Peyton Manning fan and it wasn’t until I got into seventh or eighth grade and developed an interest in it. I went to camp and met some college guys and started following them. Cole Allison who played at Georgia Southern. Steve Lindsey who played at Ole Miss. He really helped me out and played a big part in getting me where I am today.”
Lang has practiced all over the Delta from CDA to MDCC field to getting a key to Legion Field and working on his craft there.
“I got lazy and didn’t want to keep cutting the grass at CDA,” he said with a laugh.
And he’s gone through quite a few footballs over the years. His dad kept him supplied though buying three to four at a time.
“I went to CDA probably three to four times a week from the time I was in the seventh grade till a junior,” he said. “He’s bought me a lot. A whole lot. I literally kick them till they bust at the seams and go flat.”
Looking back over his kicking career, Lang brought up his toughest game and his best game.
“The worst game was my freshman year at Northeast. We played East Central,” he said. “It was 20-14 and East Central scored and missed the extra point. We scored to tie it at 20 and I missed the extra point. Then I missed another opportunity in regulation with a field goal. Then I missed in overtime that would have ended the game. That one really stuck with me. The best game was my junior year at Heritage Academy. I went four for four or five for five with extra points and my kickoffs hit the back of the endzone. I had a 45-yard field goal.”
Lang isn’t sure about his kicking future. He’s looking at getting into Turf Science or Turf Management and is looking hard at Mississippi State.
“LSU and Auburn have it and Arkansas has it,” he said. “My eligibility in junior college will be up. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I haven’t heard anything from any coaches. I’ve got until December but if I can’t hang my cleats up, I’m going to walk-on somewhere. I’ve been playing for a long time and I don’t want to stop.”
Lang does have a younger brother, Wade, a ninth grader who plays football but has been more inclined to baseball as a pitcher. The Langs are a bit joyful over that decision.
“My heart can’t take another kicker,” Garrott said. “Hope and I live and die with each kick. A kicker is never important until you need one.”
His parents know he’s a success no matter if he keeps kicking or not.
“It if all ends Saturday, Hope and I couldn’t be any prouder of the hard work and dedication he has given to football,” Garrott said. “Only five percent of high school players get to play on any level of football and he has beaten the odds of college football.”
MDCC has been Garrott’s work place for quite a while and the place where his family has watched many a football game. But what sideline will he be on come Saturday afternoon?
“It’s going to be a tough game and good place to finish up my junior college career. I don’t know where he’s going to sit,” Will said.
His daddy cleared the air though.
“It will be hard going to a MDCC game and pulling for another team. I’ve never done that before. I’ve been going to MDCC as long as I can remember,” Garrott said. “I’ll sit in the endzone with a Moorhead hat on and wearing a Pearl River t-shirt. It’s pretty neat though. He started in Sunflower County and looks like he might end in Sunflower County.”
Or maybe not, a football can take some funny bounces, especially when it’s kicked.
