By Ian C. Beck ’12
THE ROUNDUP

The Arizona Republic named Alex Garoutte ’10 to the All-Arizona football team Dec. 27 for his performance as kicker in the 2009 season.

A 50-yard kick is a major feat for even an NFL kicker. Three kicks longer than 50 yards over the course of a season for a high school player is just as remarkable, if not more.

According to azcentral.com, Garoutte made 15 field goals last year, three of which were 50 yards or greater. He missed just six kicks, all of which came from beyond 50 yards in the regular season.

“He’s certainly been given some God-given abilities and he’s taken it to the next level with some great work ethic,” said head coach Mr. Scooter Molander.

“He had a huge impact. It’s a big pressure on a defense realizing anytime we get inside the 40 yard line it’s very likely that three points are on the board,” Mr. Molander said.

“I feel like I had a good year, but not as good as it could have been,” Garoutte said in an e-mail over the Christmas break.

The senior also said he wishes he had made a 60-yard kick in Brophy’s game against Mountain Ridge, a game the Broncos won 24-0 in the first round of the playoffs.

In addition to playing kicker, Garoutte also played safety for the Broncos, a position he enjoyed.

“Safety was the (most fun) thing ever,” Garoutte said. “Kicking isn’t really football to me; it’s hitting people and putting that physical toll on your body.  I tried not to consider myself a kicker, rather a football player that kicks.”

Garoutte was also named second team all-region safety for the 2009 season and was second on the team in tackles. Mr. Molander called him “a good, solid open-field tackler.”

Garoutte was the only Bronco named to the first team All-Arizona team, a team made up of the best players in the state regardless of the conference in which their team plays.

Players were selected in a variety of manners: a coaches’ ballot, public nominations, all-region teams, coaches’ interviews, as well as basic statistics and reporters’ observations of players throughout the course of the year.

“I have a bunch of smaller schools like D1-AA looking at me but I want to play Division 1, hopefully somewhere in the PAC10,” Garoutte said while still waiting to hear back from schools.

Garoutte recently committed to Arizona State University, one of his top choices.

“Guys like that don’t come along very often,” Mr. Molander said.