Out of Role on the Yellow Jacket Football Team
BEREA, OHIO - Baldwin-Wallace College senior placekicker Kevin Hille’s (Willoughby/ Lake Catholic High School) teammates call him "The Toe" after hometown football hero and National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza and for his incredible kicking ability. But Hille uses more than just his foot to help out his team. In recent games, his defensive agility has proven crucial to keeping points of the B-W opponent scoreboard. His motivation: keeping the Yellow Jackets playoff goals alive.
"I love the challenge," said Hille, a 5-10, 195-pound Willoughby native. "I will do whatever it takes to help my team, whether it’s kicking or tackling players on kickoff returns. This year, we all have to go above our responsibilities to make things happen."
Last week, the Yellow Jackets nearly saw their playoff chances slipping away. Although B-W defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Ohio Northern University, 50-38, it was not without its tenuous moments.
Midway through the third quarter, an ONU defensive back intercepted a Dan Larlham pass and returned it for a touchdown. The point-after-touchdown kick gave ONU a 32-22 lead. But B-W did not panic.
The Yellow Jackets moved right down the field to score. Hille's PAT kick cut the Polar Bear lead to three points, 32-29. Hille then booted a 64-yard kickoff to the Ohio Northern one-yard line. On a circus-like return play ONU returned the ball 62 yards with only Hille separating the ONU return man from the goal line. Playing outstanding defense and taking a good angle, Hille made a solo tackle and prevented the touchdown.
"I know on kickoffs that I am the last line of defense to prevent the TD," said Hille, who carries a 3.41 grade point average in business administration. "There was no way I was going to give away any free points to ONU, especially in such a close game. We were up and down the whole game. It was a real battle."
"Kevin made three touchdown saving tackles," said second-year Head Coach John Snell. "On one in particular, Kevin outran the return man. Now that is impressive. He did his job well and went over-above-and-beyond the call-of-duty. We honored Kevin as our Special Teams Player of the Game."
In five games this season, Hille has recorded five tackles, including four solo stops and one assisted. As the kicker, he has connected on two field goals and is 21-of-24 in extra points for 27 total points.
"I work out just the same as the rest of the team with respect running and lifting," said Hille, who is a candidate for both Academic All-OAC and CoSIDA Academic All-District IV honors this fall. "I’ll come in about an hour earlier to practice and kick about 30 field goals on my own. Then my holder, Tom Sutton, and snapper, Tom Kovacevich, and I will take about five-to-10 kicks to simulate game conditions. My past experience playing other positions comes in handy when I need to block or tackle."
Hille started kicking in grade school at St. Mary Magdalene in Willowick. He went on to Lake Catholic High School and was at two-year starter at kicker. He also played wide receiver and cornerback for the Cougars. As a junior, he earned second-team All-Northeast District honors. However, his senior season was cut drastically short when he broke his collar bone in the third game.
"This was hard to go through, especially being a senior," said Hille. "I was however able to focus on where I wanted to go to college. I’m glad I had that time to make the right choice to come to B-W. I wanted to go somewhere relatively close to home and with a rich football tradition. B-W offered both an outstanding business administration program and very few schools have as rich a tradition in football as B-W."
Hille’s most exciting time of his college career came as a freshman when he was asked to do the kickoffs. That season, Hille boomed 84 percent of his kickoffs into the endzone and earned his first varsity letter.
"Kevin has an outstanding leg on kickoffs," said Snell. "He gets the ball either into or near the endzone with a good amount of consistency. He does his job well."
As a sophomore, Hille continued to kickoff and also battled with Kory Kobrinski to be the every day kicker on PATs and field goals. By the fourth game of the season, Hille had won the job and has been the fulltime starter ever since. For his career, Hille has connected on 11-of-18 field goal attempts.
"That was incredible coming in there and getting to play my first year," said Hille. "I used to get nervous going out there as an underclassmen. Now, I feel very comfortable and confident.
"Our entire team is working to win each game and extend our season," said Hille, who has connected on two-of-five field goals and 21-of-24 PAT kicks so far this season. "Our three main team goals are to win the OAC title, to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Playoffs and to extend the seasonal winning streak to 37 years
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