’27 specialist punts and place kicks
Specialists win ball games and championships in most unexpected ways. Third phase guys swing the pendulum in your favor when least expected and often provide the difference between “good” and “great.” Teams don’t win titles unless they perform exceptionally in all three phases of football (offense, defense, special teams). We preach this more than most. We feature specialists more than anyone. Why is this true? We are “Kentucky Prep Gridiron” and no other entity across Kentucky knows nearly as much about this subject matter as we. If we tell you a sound kicking game is critical to winning titles in Kentucky, you need to stop what you are doing and inscribe that sentiment somewhere. We have seen yacked snaps; mishandled long-snaps; shanked punts; lazy, undisciplined pursuit angles; and laces placed “in” instead of “out” sink way more than just a few ships. Logan Seales is a weapon. Enjoy this feature. Seales has earned it.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Louisville, KY: Brian Landis, who has coached at all levels of football (even college), has just landed a destination, big-time, high school job. It just doesn’t get much bigger, on the high school level, than leading the St. Xavier Tigers out onto a high school playing field.
St. Xavier’s last coach, Kevin Wallace, walked right off the Tiger sideline into a big-time corporate job and a waiting game for the Dawahares, KHSAA HOF to give him a phone call. Wallace led his last team to a 10-4 finish and a 6A semifinal berth. Wallace won over 370-games and six (6) KHSAA titles in his Hall of Fame career.
If there is something we are sure Coach Wallace would tell Coach Landis (or any other coach coming after him), which we are sure Coach Landis already knows, it is to be elite; a program has to be capable of performing in all three phases of a football game. That is why Coach Landis inheriting Logan Seales (’27 P/PK) for his inaugural season as the head man at St. Xavier is bigger than some may realize.
Seales is a stud. Seales has a lithe leg. Seales is a weapon in field position (punting, kickoffs) and scoring (FGs and PATs).
Last season, the 6’4,” 182-pounder converted all 15 of his point after attempts. Seales was seven for 11 in FGs.
Seales sent 88% of his 59-kickoffs (52 of 59) either into or through the back of the end zone for a “touchback.” Ask any team who had to face Jalen Dantzler (Central High, ’27, All-State returner) if it wouldn’t have preferred just kicking that ball into the end zone as opposed to facing the prospect Dantzler may return it.
Seales is the best punter/kicker in the KHSAA game presently
Friday Night Fletch
Special teams work is so critical because the least, little mistake can turn the entire game. You don’t have to let the returner house but one and the outcome of the game may well swing in the opposite direction.
The Long Snapper only has to yack one over the punter’s head. The coverage unit only has to be undisciplined a single time for the returner to get loose.
The place-kicker only has to doink a single PAT for the game to finish other than how it looked like it was going to finish all night long. It just takes once.
Other positions are afforded the luxury of countenancing mistakes. You can’t commit a boat load, but you know what we mean.
Specialist can ill-afford to err. Their teams can ill afford it too.
Seales wasn’t perfect in ’25. But in the immortal words of the country music supergroup, Alabama, 🎶[Seales] was close enough to perfect for me.🎶
What will Seales do in ’26, his senior season. We expect even more of the same. We expect him to remain close to perfect. At the end of the day, that would make Brian Landis’s first year leading the St. Xavier Tigers a mighty good one!
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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