The UMD Football team will welcome a new kicker next year. The program’s latest recruit is sure to help boost the team's offense.
Kicker Joseph Petrino of Georgia has officially announced his intention to join the UMD Football Team next year. The latest 2018 player acquisition has the program’s recruiting staff breathing a sigh of relief as last year the team lost a top-rated kicking recruit when Jonathan Doerer committed to Maryland before recommitting to Notre Dame instead. https://twitter.com/JDoerer_11/status/825865704599588864 Doerer’s decision left the Terps without a kicking recruit, and now the program has filled the vacancy with the 34th ranked kicker in the nation. The Maryland Terps currently have two kickers, Adam Greene and Danny Sutton, who are set to graduate after the 2017 season. The commitment by Petrino has ensured that the team will have kicking spots on the roster filled through 2021. Petrino is a solid recruit and has a 4.5-star rating, while his average kickoff has a 3.63 hangtime and 63-yard average distance, good enough to reach the two and three-yard line per kick. Maryland extended the kicker an offer after Petrino attended football camp last month and impressed the program’s coaching staff. The team anticipates that he will become a major asset for the team and the program’s recruiters consider Petrino a steal as his performance in camps at Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Maryland and West Virginia landed him the number two rank in each schools’ 2018 recruiting class. Petrino’s field goal range of 60 yards is more than adequate, and his stats from 40 yards in is near perfect and should help the Terps’ offense put points on the board. Petrino also is capable of any type of onside kick, special teams cooridinator Patrick Means calls him “a big-time guy.”
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This latest addition to the Terps’ 2018 recruiting class comes off the heels of defensive back Noah Boykin’s commitment on Wednesday, July 5. Boykin had offers from big name football programs that included Kentucky, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma and Southern California.
Boykin’s teammate cornerback Vincent Flythe III committed in June and was considered the top cornerback in the Metro DC area. Maryland’s latest acquisitions and others who have committed for 2018 have boosted the Terps’ to No. 22 for the 2018 recruitment class ranking by ESPN.
In all, the Terps now have 15 new recruits joining the program next year thus far. What are your thoughts on the new recruits? Let us know in the comments below.
