(Editor’s note: The following story is reprinted courtesy of the Middle Tennessee State University Athletic Department. Rooker is a 2012 RHHS graduate. He was the 5A Special Teams Player of the Year in Georgia his senior season, helping the Wildcats to an 8-3 record. He hit seven of 11 field goals and 39 of 44 PATs that year.)
Lining up for a field goal on Saturdays for the first time can be overwhelming for some kickers.
Middle Tennessee's Canon Rooker, though, looked poised and under control in his first game as placekicker for the Blue Raiders against Alabama A&M in Week 1.
“I was very excited,” he said. “I worked very hard this offseason, worked hard in the summer and worked hard during fall camp. I'm very thankful and very grateful that I have the ability to start at placekicker.
“During the game I was nervous, but luckily I have a great holder, a great snapper and great offensive linemen,” he added. “After I got that first one under my belt I felt like I knew what I was doing.”
The redshirt junior, knocked home the first two field goals of his career Saturday — a 25-yarder in the second quarter and a 46-yarder in the fourth. He also nailed all seven extra points he attempted in the game. The Blue Raiders won 55-0.
“I was glad to see him perform the way he did Saturday,” MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. “He's kicked off for a couple years and had one extra point, so he's been out there, but until you line up for the first time to kick a field goal you don't know. I thought he kicked with confidence.”
Taking the field as the Middle Tennessee primary placekicker for the first time in his career was a long time coming for Rooker.
He served as the Blue Raiders’ kickoff specialist as a true freshman in 2013, but missed the entire 2014 season due to an injury. He then came back last year to continue his kickoff duties, averaging 60.6 yards on 78 kickoffs with 19 touchbacks.
The year he had to miss with an injury could have been the end of his kicking career. But Rooker had a motivating factor that made him want to keep working.
“Honestly, it was my teammates," he said. “I feel like me coming out here and being the best I can be, I can be a great contributor to this team. Those guys deserve someone who is going to work just as hard as they do, and I feel like I can fulfill that job.”
The graduation of Cody Clark from last year's team gave Rooker the chance to win the primary kicking job in this year's fall camp. He wasn't named the starter against Alabama A&M without a good deal of competition, though.
True freshman Crews Holt joined the Blue Raiders this season after being named the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Kicker of the Year last year while at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood. The battle he and Rooker had in camp made both of them better overall kickers, according to Rooker.
“It made me a lot better, because Crews is a great competitor, a great kicker and a great friend, as well,” he said. “When he came in I felt like I was trying to take him under my belt and groom him into being the person he can be when I leave, and he's pushed me to be better every single day.”
Though Rooker was given the job in Week 1, the battle between the two kickers is certainly not over. And that could be a good thing for both of them.
“It's still ongoing,” Stockstill said. “I think Crews and Rook have great futures, and I think both of those guys competing against each other will only help both of them.”
With two strong-looking defenses matching up in Middle Tennessee's Week 2 game against Vanderbilt — MT pitched a shutout in Week 1, while Vandy gave up just 13 points to South Carolina — the game could very well be low-scoring and come down to a field goal.
If it does, Rooker will be ready.
“I've worked very hard and tried to do the best I could do, and it's finally starting to pay off,” he said.
MTSU plays at 3 p.m. Saturday at Vanderbilt. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.