When Jake Chapla met Pat McAfee last summer, the Plum kicker made a bold statement to the Indianapolis Colts punter and Plum alum.
Chapla told McAfee that he wanted to break his school record for longest field goal.
“He was kind of jokingly like, ‘Good luck with that,' ” Chapla said. “But he was proud that I had a goal like that.”
So proud that when Chapla booted a 51-yarder last season against Connellsville, McAfee sent him a congratulatory tweet.
“To do that,” Chapla said, “was special for me.”
Now, Chapla has set his sights higher. His goals include breaking the WPIAL field-goal record of 55 yards, set by Josh Miller of East Allegheny in 2002, and improving his touchback ratio on kickoffs to 90 percent.
“We can score from anywhere on the field with him,” said Plum coach Matt Morgan, noting that Chapla was named a team captain. “You get to the 35- or 40-yard line, and you know he can kick, which is a luxury. Our biggest advantage is on kickoffs, where he hits it out of the end zone or to the 1-yard line every time. Field position is key in high school football.”
McAfee also taught Chapla the finer points of punting, duties he will add this season. More importantly, the Pro Bowl punter addressed how to handle fans.
After one fan called out Chapla for missing a first-half field goal in a two-point loss to North Hills last fall, McAfee texted with a reference to his miss in the 2007 Backyard Brawl.
“Just to me, to have somebody think the game was on me was hard for me,” Chapla said. “He said, ‘Every miss has its purpose.' ”
Chapla is aiming for the makes, with records in mind.
Kevin Gorman is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
