Newton County Academy’s Jackson Bunyard’s college career almost never happened.
Bunyard was playing wide receiver and defensive back for the Generals as a junior when he was kicking around during a break in practice. Coach Stevie Nelson took notice.
Before long, Bunyard was the Generals full-time kicker. Bunyard then started taking kicking lessons from former college kicker Will Moseley.
Then Bunyard started to post videos of his kicking on Twitter from this past season. Bunyard kicked off 93 times last year and had 48 touchbacks. He was also 40-of-49 on PATs and kicked one field goal of 37 yards.
Nelson said he thinks Bunyard has just started to realize his potential. He will get a chance to play at the next level, signing to play at East Mississippi Community College.
“He has a tremendous upside because he hasn’t been doing this a long time,” Nelson said. “He went and got some lessons and you have to have a kicker that can make it and I think he will do that. He did make a couple of 60-yarders during practice but if you have the leg strength to kick it 60 yards with just two steps, that’s something you can work with. Now all he is going to do is focus on kicking and won’t have to focus on playing wide receiver or defensive back, his leg strength should only increase. All I see is good things for Scooba from him next year.”
Nelson said Bunyard became a force for the Generals, who went 12-2 last year and made the Class 2A title game.
“It was a tremendous weapon for us,” Nelson said. “When you play 8-man football, most everybody onside kicks and you basically get the ball at midfield. But when you can kick it deep and the opponent has to start at the 20-yard line, you feel like you have gained 30 yards. That was a tremendous weapon for us. Not only was he a good kicker but he was a good wide receiver. I’ve tried to tell him that he could play receiver. I could see him moving on past Scooba if he sets his mind to it and works hard.”
Bunyard was also a standout for the Generals on both offense and defense. On offense, he led the Generals with 871 yards receiving on 30 catches. He had 46 tackles on defense and had five interceptions. He was a MAIS All-Star and made the Class 2A All-MAIS team as a kicker.
“They are getting a diamond in the rough,” Nelson said. “We are talking about a guy who last year during the middle of the season was just out there kicking during our break time. He became our kicker last year during the middle of the season and we took it from there and he took it from there. This past season, I think he made 49 extra points and kicked it a lot more. He has a lot of upside because he hasn’t been doing it very long. He is a good athlete and works well. I know he will continue to work hard and get better. I’m sure he will get in the weight room and get stronger. I know he will back up five yards but I think he will be fine and still kick them out of the end zone.”
Bunyard said he played soccer for years before coming to NCA and picking up football.
“I started playing soccer when I was little and played it for nine years and had a really good feel for striking the ball,” Bunyard said. “My high school coach asked one day if I played soccer and I said yes and then I was the kicker. I have fell in love with it ever since. I made a Twitter account and started posting videos and coaches started contacting me from there. I just kept kicking. A guy from Meridian, Will Moseley, who kicked from Scooba and then went to Ole Miss, really helped me a lot.”
Bunyard said going to EMCC was an easy decision for him.
“Mainly, when I went to my visit at EMCC, it felt like home,” Bunyard said. “My grandfather played there some years ago and it just felt like home. I like it a lot up there. We had a great season and couldn’t have done it without coach Stevie Nelson. We made it to the state championship game and EMCC made it to the national championship game. But hopefully, we can get a ring next year.”
