Clint Thompson
CAIRO — Entering the season, Cairo was in need of a kicker.
One came knocking.
Trevor Moncrief hadn’t played football at all before his senior year. That didn’t stop the Syrupmakers soccer player from wanting to kick for the defending Class AAA champions.
“I guess we’re kind of fortunate that in Cairo, for some reason, we’ve always been able to find punters and kickers,” Cairo coach Tom Fallaw said. “You always have a senior or somebody that graduates and you’re kind of wondering what you’re going to do for a kicker. Then there’s always a kid that shows up at your door wanting to kick. (Moncrief) was one of those guys. When (last) season ended, we had two senior kickers, and he showed up at the door and wanted to kick. What we knew from the spring, after watching him, that he was going to be fine. The kid does a good job. He's got a good foot.”
Kicking extra points and field goals was not the problem for Moncrief entering the season. Getting acclimated in his new environment was.
“Come spring practice, we kind of had to have a coach show him how to put pads on,” Fallaw said.
Moncrief added, “It’s been fun. With this being my first year, I’m glad I actually did good. I wish I started when I was a freshman.”
Once the pads were on, Moncrief still had to adjust to Friday nights and Cairo’s Saturday night opener. He missed his first extra point against Bainbridge to begin the year. He made his next attempt, however, and then converted a 23-yard field goal against Thomas County Central two weeks later.
Moncrief’s confidence has been on the rise since and it paid dividends on Sept. 25 when Cairo visited Monroe. It turned out to be the highlight of Moncrief's season. With the game tied 7-7 in the waning moments of a key Region 1 tilt, Cairo set up a field-goal attempt at Monroe’s 10-yard line. Fallaw called on Moncrief to boot the game-winning kick.
“I was surprised they trusted me to kick (the game winner) with this being my first year,” Moncrief recalled. “I’m just glad I made it.
Fallaw added, “Kicking’s different. You don’t think you mean that much to the team until all of a sudden, the whole game’s put upon you. You sit over there during practice and you’re always by yourself kicking. I don’t know that you ever feel part of the team until you’re thrust into that spotlight. I think he felt it and understood it at that time. He kind of knew right then that he was definitely part of the team. What he does is important.
“Like I said, for some reason in Cairo, we’re fortunate in that we’ve always had a kid that was able to kick. It’s just like anything, the kids that want to kick, they want to come out and do it. They don’t want to sit there and watch somebody. They wait until they know the kid’s leaving. When a kid leaves, somebody shows up and says I want to kick for you. We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had several that have shown up the last couple of years that have been good.
“Trevor’s done a good job for us. We appreciate the fact that he came out and helped us this year.”
Moncrief was a key contributor in Cairo’s 42-3 win against Woodland, Henry last week in the first round of the state playoffs. He converted all six of his PATs.
