By Jonathan House and Micah Cabbage

The kicker for the Little Hawk football team, Drew Cornwell, is looking to rewrite the record books. Cornwell has already broken three school records. He has been kicking for a while now, and hopes the best is still ahead of him.

“I became interested in kicking in fourth grade,” Drew Cornwell ‘14 said. “I was working with my dad, and he noticed I had a good kicking leg.”

Cornwell’s dad was right, he then began to follow his dad’s advice and began practicing.

“I became interested in it, because it was something different at the time,” Cornwell said. “I now kick at least 500 balls a week.”

Cornwell shows dedication to the sport with hours of time and effort.

“I practice kicking everyday, but not just kicking,” Cornwell said. “I also have to do weight training and special drills, and a lot of camps in the summer.”

Cornwell has become very good at what he does. He has broken three school records, and one conference record. On October 8, 2011, Cornwell broke the record for the most field goals in a career. He has made 21, and attempted only 31.
On October 15, 2011, a week after breaking one record, Cornwell would break two more. He broke the school record for the most field goals in one season. The same day, he would break the conference record for most field goals in a season with ten.
Next season proved to be a record breaking one for Cornwell too. On September 8, 2012, Cornwell broke the school record for PATs. The old record was 116, now Cornwell has 159. Cornwell is close to some other records as well. He only has to score 2 more points to break the Iowa record for most career points. Cornwell hopes to break this record in tonight’s last regular season game against Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids.

The senior has some lofty goals for the future, and enjoys what he does.

“I like the pressure that comes with kicking,” Cornwell said. “My dream is to kick or punt in the NFL.”
He has handled the pressure that comes with his job as well.

“The biggest kick of my career was my game winning field goal freshman year in the Xavier game,” Cornwell said.

Cornwell is superstitious as well. When asked if he had been recruited by any colleges, he said: “Well, I would really rather not say because I don’t want to jinx myself. I will only say I have received things for every division.”

He also has some quirky and specific pre-game rituals.

“I always put my right sock on first and then my left sock and then my right shoe and my left shoe last,” Cornwell said. “I usually listen to Tyler the Creator and Eminem.”

Cornwell likes what he does, but is sad that it is coming to an end in a few weeks.
“My favorite thing about high school football is the excitement of Friday Night Lights,” Cornwell said. “Also team dinners. Yummy.”

Finally, to anyone else who needs advice on their game Cornwell said this,
“It takes mental preparation and a lot of practice and repetition.”