Palm Beach Central High School senior placekicker/punter Ethan Dagostino will be celebrating his 18th birthday on the football field alongside his Bronco teammates on Friday, Oct. 18. On that night, the Broncos will be looking to improve their record to 6-1 when they face the Benjamin School Buccaneers.
Chances are strong that Dagostino will play a big role in that game. He may even kick the winning field goal or extra point.
Dagostino, a three-year letterman for the Broncos, is more than somebody who simply kicks the football. He’s an athlete who is fit, strong, smart, confident and tall. He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 180 pounds.
“Ethan is a natural leader and is one of our team captains. He’s our stretch team coordinator,” PBCHS head football coach Kevin Thompson said. “He’s a very popular player on the team, and he’s also a great kicker — both a placekicker and as a punter.”
Dagostino is one of Thompson’s key offensive and defensive weapons for the football team.
“When we move the ball inside the opponent’s 40-yard line, I can send Ethan out to kick a field goal,” Thompson said. “And because of his well-executed punts and kickoffs, we have not had a punt returned or a kickoff returned for a touchdown in three years.”
Dagostino certainly has a strong leg. In practice, his longest field goal is an impressive 60 yards. In an actual football game, his career-long field goal is 47 yards.
Against Jupiter High School on Friday, Sept. 27, Dagostino successfully kicked a 46-yard field goal. That particular kick was so well struck that it easily could have cleared the cross bar from at least 50 yards, which is impressive for any placekicker, especially a high school placekicker. In addition to that 46-yard field goal, Dagostino successfully kicked three points-after-touchdowns (PATs) against the Warriors, who entered that game with a perfect 4-0 record.
In addition to his placekicking prowess, Dagostino is an accomplished punter whose career-long punt in a game is 59 yards.
One of the keys to Dagostino’s success as a placekicker is his ability to stay mentally focused.
“As a placekicker, I am successful because of practice, focus and concentration. I have great confidence in my teammates’ ability to block the other team, snap the football and put the ball in place so I can kick it through the uprights,” Dagostino said.
Dagostino has also made far more placekicks than he has missed because of input from longtime area kicking coach Tony Bugeja.
“Ethan is a hard worker on the football field and works hard in the weight room,” said Bugeja, who was a collegiate placekicker at Methodist University and has helped coach 16 placekickers who are or have played in the NFL, one of whom is current Miami Dolphins placekicker Jason Sanders. “He’s very technical and wants to understand the techniques of kicking the football.”
Bugeja feels that any collegiate football program will be well served to offer Dagostino a college scholarship. “He’s quite a talented kicker — a real combo guy who can punt, place kick and kickoff,” added Bugeja, who has been teaching physical education at Osceola Creek Middle School for the past 21 years.
“Tony has taught me how to mentally block out everything when I get ready for a kick,” noted Dagostino, who has a 3.99 unweighted GPA and a 5.2 weighted GPA at Palm Beach Central. “I’ve also been taught to block out anything in the past and focus just on the present.”
In addition to generating support from his head coach and teammates, Dagostino was recognized for his placekicking prowess by being named a finalist last year for the local Lou Groza Award, which is presented to the top high school placekicker in Palm Beach County by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Last year, Dagostino was the runner-up for the award. Chances are strong that he will return as a finalist for this year’s Lou Groza Award, which will be presented later this fall, and he easily could win the award.
Dagostino has improved every year as both a punter and placekicker. As a sophomore, he made five field goals, converted 57 PATs and averaged 33.4 yards per punt. As a junior, he made seven field goals, converted 50 PATs and averaged 38 yards per punt. This year, after six games, Dagostino has made five of seven field goals, converted all 24 PATs and he’s averaging 44 yards per punt. His punting has been impressive, as 12 of his punts have finished inside the 20-yard line, and seven punts have finished inside the five-yard line. His longest punt is 59 yards.
While Dagostino remains strongly focused on the present, he’s also planning for the future. He’s hoping to land a college football scholarship as a placekicker and a punter.
If you ask Dagostino if he is a better placekicker or a punter, he has an interesting response. “Statistically, I’m a better punter, but I think I’m better at placekicking,” he said.
