Ten other kickers, punters and long snappers to watch
Etiwanda’s Justin Ludovico admits his views on football have shifted.
A high-level club soccer goalkeeper throughout his youth and into high school, Ludovico said he had reached a place where he knew that a change was needed.
“I got burned out and (soccer) just didn’t seem that fun to me anymore,” Ludovico said. “But football, that Friday night experience, I had never felt anything like that before in any sport.”
Introduced to football place kicking before his sophomore season, Ludovico quickly surpassed expectations and earned a spot on the varsity team converting field goal and point-after attempts.
“He’d never kicked a football until about 14 months ago,” Etiwanda head coach Nick Baiz said. “Now I’m seeing him kick kickoffs through the uprights in practice. He wasn’t doing that last season.”
Ludovico’s quick ascension hasn’t come without sacrifice. He has ended his commitments to his club and high school soccer teams, but he earned an invite to the 2022 Kohl’s Western Spring Showcase Camp.
“It’s been a crazy experience because I went to my first ranking camp and then I earned an invitation to the nation’s most prestigious summer kicking camp, and me and my dad flew across to Tennessee and there were about 900 of the best specialists from across the United States,” Ludovico said.
A top-25 finisher in both place kicking and punting categories at the Kohl’s Camp, Ludovico enters this season as one of the players to watch in the Inland area.
“It’s awesome to have a kicker of that caliber,” Baiz said. “We expect him to do big things, and having a good kicker is really going to help out field position.”
Ludovico made all six of his field-goal attempts and 47 of 52 PATs last season for Etiwanda, which finished 12-1 and reached the CIF Southern Section Division 3 semifinals.
“Last year was my first season of football, and Baiz gave me a shot to be a kicker and I went with it and it turned out well for me,” said
Ludovico, who also handles kickoff duties for the Eagles.
“Looking back on my stats and the way that I performed, for that being my first season I can say that I definitely can improve a lot more,” he said. “Now that I’m learning a lot more I’m going to do a lot better.”
Continued success has been an important motivating factor, Ludovico said, and has pushed him to train “sometimes seven days a week” during the offseason.
“Last year I only did kicking, but this year I’m the kicker and punter so I have to find time in my schedule to work on it,” he said. “Some days are just kickoffs and some days are just field goals, and then other days just punting, so I can maximize my effort.”
Baiz intends to maximize
Ludovico’s skill set to support another winning season as the Eagles look to repeat as Baseline League champions.
“Whether we’re kicking off our punting, hopefully our opponents will have to go 80 yards or so (to score), which gives our defense a big boost,” Baiz said. “We expect Justin to be great (and) one of the best kickers around.”
OSCAR COLINDRES, VISTA DEL LAGO >> Made 4 of 5 field goals and 38 of 40 PATs during his junior season.
JAYDEN FERNANDEZ, GREAT OAK >> Rated as the state’s No. 2 long snapper in the 2025 recruiting class.
ISMAEL FIGUEROA, TEMESCAL CANYON >> Made all seven field goals a junior, including three in one game.
SEAN GARVEY, BIG BEAR >> Senior quarterback averaged 41.7 yards per punt with eight inside the 20.
DRAKE GONZALEZ, DAMIEN >> Made 5 of 7 field goals during his junior season with a long of 42 yards.
KRISTIAN JOHNSON, CITRUS VALLEY >> Averaged 40.8 yards per punt and made two field goals as a junior.
ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL, CENTENNIAL >> Senior is considered of the best long snappers in the region.
RAMON MONTES TORRES, CHINO >> Made all four field goal tries and 37 of 30 PATs as a junior.
WYATT RUBINOFF, VISTA MURRIETA >> Versatile junior athlete excels in the long snapping department
DREW SPRAGUE, ELSINORE >> Converted all three field goal tries and 46 of 47 PATs as a junior.