COVINGTON, Ga. — In a sport headlined by skill position players, one of Alcovy’s highest contributors resides on special teams, in the form of Braxton Crawford.

Crawford is the Tigers’ kicker and punter and has been for four years now. During his span as part of the team, Crawford has seemed to be an unsung hero for the Tigers. 

He finished his sophomore season being voted as the region’s first team punter.  In fact, Crawford is the reigning Region 3-AAAAAA kicker of the year and was a pivotal member of the Region 3-AAAAAA championship by going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts. 

But before he was kicking and punting for the Tigers, Crawford played on the pitch before a coach helped him make the transition from soccer to football.

“The first half of [last season] was not the best for us but I felt we learned and grew a lot, we played tough teams that helped us prepare for our region,” Crawford said. “When the region came about, we just knew what to do. We knew we already played the top tier teams in Georgia so we knew we could win.”

When asked which he preferred between kicking and punting, Crawford went with the points on the field goals, and the senior has had his fair share of big kicks to show for it.

Halfway through his senior season, Crawford has already connected on multiple kicks past 40 yards. Crawford credited his current play to the work he had put in during the offseason to correct his form and to get stronger.

 “I really focused on lifting and getting stronger [and] working on my form, the coach I have been working with [at Kohl’s Kicking] has really helped me over the [last] two years.”

Despite punts and field goals not being the headlining plays for football teams, Crawford and his coaches know how important those plays can be and how those little wins on special teams can lead to bigger plays later in the game.

“I see it as a light [or] spark to help the team move forward,” Crawford said. 

“If they couldn’t score or get the stop, I see it as a spark to ignite them so they can go out there and play ball the best they can.”

The Tigers will return home to continue Region 3-AAAAAA action against Lovejoy High School this Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.