HC's Lacayo bucking the traditional kicker image

Brent McCown/Tribune Hastings College’s Ernesto Lacayo was first team all conference last year and kicked a 53-yard field goal in the playoffs for the Broncos. Lacayo is a senior this year.

Ryan Murken
rmurken@hastingstribune.com
Ernesto Lacayo knows the perception some people have of kickers.
The Hastings College senior is aware that some people say kickers don’t work as hard as the rest of the team.
He knows people say kickers aren’t as physical as other positions, that they don’t go through the same daily grind and they aren’t as much a part of the team.
Lacayo has heard all the comments about kickers and he’s spent most of his career proving them wrong.
“I have something to prove being the kicker, I don’t want to just be looked at as the guy that just kicks and leaves,” Lacayo said. “Once practice starts I am there the whole time. I’m trying to get bigger, better and faster like everybody else. I’m just like everybody else on the team.”
Lacayo has had an immediate impact on the Hastings program on the field and in the locker room since he arrived on campus in the spring of 2009.