MOULTRIE — Norcross senior kicker Jake Camarda received plenty of attention before last Saturday’s meeting between the Blue Devils and Colquitt County in Atlanta.

And deservedly so.

He had averaged over 41 yards a punt as a junior, is an outstanding place-kicker and booms kickoffs into the end zone. And he has committed to taking his talents to the University of Georgia next season.

But Colquitt County has a kicker who likely will be in much the same position next year as Camarda is now.

Ryan Fitzgerald had a productive sophomore season for the Packers last year, but opened some eyes during summer kicking camps and then surprised Packer fans with his leg strength at Georgia State Stadium.

Fitzgerald punched both extra points through, converted field goal attempts of 22 and 32 yards and knocked all five of his kickoffs into the end zone.

Packers kicking coach Shawn Sutton was not surprised with Fitzgerald’s season-opening performance.

“He’s gotten much stronger,” Sutton said Tuesday before the Packers hit the practice field. “And he’s a year older. He’s added 11-12-13 yards to his kickoffs.

“He takes his kicking very, very seriously. He spends more time working in the off-season than any other player I’ve seen at that position.”

Fitzgerald’s mother Sandy teaches in Thomas County and he spent his freshman season playing for the Yellow Jackets, but transferred to Colquitt County last year.

He was not exactly unfamiliar with Packer football.

His father Chad was Colquitt County’s place-kicker in 1987 and 1988 and his uncle Cameron punted for the Packers in 2007.

Chad and Cameron’s older brother Clay was a starting offensive tackle for the Packers in 1991 and 1992.

“I grew up going to Packer games with my family,” he said. “I always wanted to play for the Packers.”

So when he asked if he could transfer to Colquitt County, the answer was yes.

His father had been grooming him to become a kicker since he was about

5 years old, Ryan says.

“He had me playing soccer with the main goal of my being a kicker,” he said.

He participated in Punt, Pass and Kick competitions and even got some instruction from former University of Georgia kicker Kevin Butler.

He did not kick much as a freshman at Thomas County Central, but in his first season with the Packers, wearing the same jersey No. 88 his father had worn, he became the team’s primarily place-kicker, replacing Luis “Baby Lou” Martinez, who graduated and moved on to Georgia Southern.

Fitzgerald converted 55-of-56 attempts and hit 11 of his 16 field goal attempts.

In the second game of the season, he missed three field goal attempts in the loss to American Heritage.

Rather than let it set him back, he went on to convert nine of his last 10 attempts.

“You just have to take it one kick at a time, regardless of the last one,” he says.

By the end of the season, he was being recognized as one of the state’s rising kickers and was selected to play in The Elite Sophomore Game at McEachern High last December.

And he continued to improve over the summer.

He attended camps at the University of Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Florida State and Clemson.

He won the field goal competition at Florida with a 53-yarder, was second in kickoffs at Florida State and had several other top-3 finishes.

He is ranked as the No. 13 junior place-kicker in the country.

And he gives a lot of credit for his development to Sutton.

“It was a huge step up when I came here,” he says. “But the coaches do everything they can for the players.

“And Coach Sutton is like a part of the family. He’s almost like a father figure to me.”

Sutton calls Fitzgerald’s work ethic “impeccable.”

“He’s not an August-through-December guy,” Sutton says. “It’s 12 months of the year, trying to get better.

“He’s very business-like and takes it very seriously. He’s got a God- given talent and he’s going to out-work anyone he competes against.

Fitzgerald also has taken over the punting chores, handled last year by John Samuel Shenker.

Punting is more of a work-in-progress, mostly because it takes a different leg swing.Fitzgerald said he likes the challenge of punting and is working hard to get better at it.

“We’ve got to get the punting at the same level as the place-kicking,” 

Sutton said. “But he’s capable of doing that.”

If he can keep putting his kickoffs into or beyond the end zone, he will continue to keep forcing the opposition to start from their 20. 

And with the time he is putting in with Sutton’s challenging weight- training program, that should not be a problem.

It is the extra-point and field goal attempts that he especially likes. He said he feels confident at 50 yards, having hit one in practice recently. He says he also put one through the uprights from

60 yards out during a private practice session.

Another factor in his confidence this season is the comfort level with snapper Noah Hightower, who also held the job last year, and new holder Steven Krajewski.

The three met several times in the offseason to work on their rhythm.

That rhythm was flawless against Norcross. Packer fans are looking forward to seeing itrepeated many times over this season and the next.