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Miami punter looking solid

Murphy looks to provide consistent effort on RedHawks’ special teams.

Contributed photo by Keith Dickson Miami punter Zach Murphy kicks an extra point while playing for Friday, Oct 17, 2008.

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 12:05 PM Wednesday, August 18, 2010

OXFORD — Redshirt freshman Zach Murphy is giving Miami University’s football program a shot in the arm. Well, leg.

Coaches like consistently high, consistently long punts that make the return man squirm.

Consistency has not been a strong point in the RedHawks’ punting game since the departure of Jacob Richardson, the record-setter from Talawanda High School.

Last season Chris DeCesare averaged 38.9 yards as a senior before being replaced by redshirt freshman Jim Broadway, who averaged 34.6 yards and has since left the program.

Waiting in the wings was Murphy, like Richardson a local product, a place-kicker/punter from Kings High School whose 20 field goals with the Knights tied the state single-season record.

The son of Dan and Jodi Murphy came to the RedHawks as a preferred walk-on, and now he is Mike Haywood’s preferred punter.

“Zach has been kicking the ball pretty well,” Haywood said on Tuesday, Aug. 17, following practice. “He averaged 48.6 yards the other day with 4.8 (seconds of) hang time. I’m not sure when he goes in there as a redshirt punter what’s going to happen. However, he’s doing a pretty good job right now.”

Haywood takes Miami’s punting game seriously.

“It’s the most important game in the special teams,” the Miami coach said. “How many other plays are there where you average 40 yards? So we’re going to have the best personnel on our team out there.”

“Punting is a battle for field position that can really change the momentum of a team,” Murphy noted. “It can pin a team back deep.”

The RedHawks require not only a consistent punter, but also a reliable long snapper.

“(Aaron) Griffo’s been snapping the ball really good,” Murphy said. “He makes it really easy on me just knowing it’s going to be in a good spot every time. I feel comfortable with him.”

Griffo, a junior walk-on from Lima Shawnee High School, is backed up by true freshman Konnor Blevins, a preferred walk-on from Lakota West.

Murphy said he works hard on his mechanics and that speed is the key.

“The most important thing is making sure you’re dropping the ball in the same spot, working on getting the ball off fast, and keeping those mechanics while trying to go faster,” Murphy said. “Going fast is a big transition from high school to college. I’m trying to keep my mechanics the same from high school, just speeding them up.”

Miami’s second-string punter is true freshman Mason Krysinski, from Shelby Twp., Mich.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

»RedHawks blog Journal-News.com/miami

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