28 Aug 2024 Mix of old, new on UCA special team units

CONWAY — There will definitely be a mix of old and new faces on the University of Central Arkansas special team units this fall.

Heading into Saturday’s season opener at Arkansas State, there are ongoing battles for the punting job and the punt and kick return spots. The only solid positions that feature returnees are placekicker (Jake Gaster and Jake Ward) and deep snapper (Kyle Gasaway).

“I’m actually really excited about our special teams’ prospects heading into the season,’ said Head Coach Nathan Brown. “Getting Jake Gaster back after a very successful season last year. If you really break down his year, he really only truly missed two field goals. The other three misses were either blocked or a bad snap. He’s just so consistent. 

“He’s worked on his strength, so I think we can push him back even farther this year on some field goal attempts. He’s more comfortable because he has the same snapper and holder he had last year, so that helps with cohesiveness and trust. It helps you sleep at night when you have a good placekicker.”

Gaster, from Frisco, Texas and a transfer last year from Trinity Valley Community College, was 13 of 18 on field-goal attempts and 36 of 38 on point-after attempts in his first season at UCA. He was also an Academic All-District selection for his classroom work.

“We felt great for years with Hayden Ray, and you can go even before him with the guys we’ve had,” said Brown. “And Jake Gaster is no different. He took the job really quickly after we signed him and he’s a guy that I think is an all-conference, all-American type kicker.”

The comfort level with Gaster starts with the senior Gasaway (Memphis, Tenn.) doing the snapping. 

“At deep snapper, we’re in great shape because we returned Kyle Gasaway. He’s a returning starter at that position,” said Brown. “He’s very consistent, and he works at his craft constantly. He loves the game of football. And he’s not just a deep snapper. He wants to be in the weight room; he wants to be in tackling drills. He’s just a kid you really want to rally around.”

The kickoff duties will once again fall to senior Jake Ward (Bloomfield, Mich.).

“Jake Ward is our kickoff guy, and he’s going to continue to be ready at field goals if needed,” said Brown. “He had a lot of success with our kickoffs and really did a nice job placing kicks. We put more emphasis on placing kicks, putting it in the right spot, than we do just kicking it as deep as you can. And when we get the wind, obviously he can put it out of the back of the end zone, but it always seems like three or four times a year we’re playing in a strong wind, some type of elements. And he does a good job no matter what the elements are.”

Possibly the best competition in the entire fall practice has been between junior transfer Trace Beard (French Camp, Miss.) and sophomore Rhett Thurman (Cabot, Ark.) for the punting duties.

“The battle in fall camp has really been at punter,” said Brown. “You have to replace Chandler Caughron, who was a highly consistent presence there for three years and an All-Conference punter. So who’s going to replace him? We have Rhett Thurman, who has been a backup to Chandler for the last couple of years. He has probably the biggest punting leg on our team. He can put the ball deep and really put a lot of hang time on it. I’m excited to see what Rhett can do now that he knows he has a true opportunity to compete for the starting job.

“And he will be competing with Trace Beard, who we signed out of East Central (Miss.) CC. He came in and had a tough spring with injuries so we didn’t see all of his potential. He had an emergency appendectomy right before spring ball, so he was never full speed. So what we’ve seen in the summer is him get better. So Trace and Rhett are going to have a battle in fall camp and we’re going to chart it and we’re going to be tough on them, put the pressure on them as much as we possibly can and see who comes out on top.

“But I know both are going to compete and do a good job, and I’m excited about that position.”

The Bears must replace both of their return men from last year with the loss of seniors Jarrod Barnes and Christian Richmond, who handled the duties for several years. 

“Returner is a big position to fill because of what we lost,” said Brown. “We lost Jarrod Barnes, who had a great career as a punt returner, and Christian Richmond had a great career as a kick returner. So those are two important starting positions on special teams that are still to be determined.

“I think on kickoff you could see a guy like ShunDerrick Powell back there, Tyion Berry, Kam Robinson, Manny Smith. Those guys are definitely going to be competing for that spot.  And at punt returner, we had a lot of success with Jarrod. We felt like if he could catch the ball cleanly and have room, he had a chance to make big yards and touchdowns. So that’s a position that we have to get somebody back there that we trust. 

“Tyion Berry, Kam Robinson are going to have a chance to compete for that job. Trejan Bridges could be competing for that job because he has punt-return experience in his past. And Manny Smith. So you really get to about four or five guys that you can put in a position to compete for those spots and then try to trim it down to two that you feel great about going into the season.

“That will be an ongoing competition in fall camp. We’ll try to put them in some live situations, especially the punt returners, to see if they can do it under pressure. We know we have talented enough guys with the ball in their hands; we just have to get guys that can consistently catch it and that we trust when the games are on the line.”