HORSEHEADS' MASSENGALE COMMITS TO KICK AT ST. JOHN FISHER (2022-05-02)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
This past fall Ben Massengale proved to be one of the best kickers in Section 4.

He consistently hit extra points all season and when he had field goal opportunities he proved to be a clutch kicker, including hitting a game winner in overtime against Elmira.

For Massengale now his career will continue as he’ll kick for St. John Fisher after making a commitment to the school.

“To me, personally, there were a lot of things that went into my decision,” Massengale said. “A lot to do with how close I am to my family and it’s only an hour and a half away. The coaching staff, the facility it really appealed to me. More than anything the coaches worked really hard to get me to make sure I made my decision, they did a great job with recruiting and I appreciate it a ton.

“The place is beautiful, the campus is incredible, the lorckerrooms, for a D3 school, it’s pretty incredible.”

For Massengale, all of his kicking has been mostly self taught, he’s never been to a lot of camps or hired private kicking coaches. And, he’s been an athlete who played multiple positions, and sports, and he’s excited to see what happens when he can focus on just kicking in college.

Now, Massengale is excited to see what he can do with college kicking coaches, and all his focus on just special teams.

“I can’t wait,” Massengale said. “My entire career of kicking the football I have never had an outside source to perfect my form., to help me out with my fellow through, someone there to help me with all the aspects of kicking.

“I have been kicking staring I believe when I was in sixth grade during pee-wee football. I started with a base of playing soccer when I was really, really young. When I started playing football I was playing offensive line/wide receiver, I told them I used to play soccer and they said we need a kicker, it’s perfect.”

The one thing Massengale did have as a kicker growing up was a lot of support from his family, and coaches, including a grandfather who helped set up a way for him to practice at home.

“I never had an outside thing help me, the most I had helping me out was my grandfather,” Massengale said. “A few years ago out of PVC pipe he built a structure in my backyard, so I’ve been able to practice in my backyard anytime I wanted, which was awesome.”

Massengale knows how lucky he is to have had coaches at Horseheads who believed in him as a kicker. The Blue Raiders trusted him to kick the ball in big spots, and that gives him confidence now in what he can do.

“One huge part for me was the trust that Horseheads High School had in me to go out and get the job done when I had to,” Massengale said.

“It really goes to show me, no matter how hard I worked I know I can confidently say in myself I am able to go out and get the job done. With constant repetition and hard work I can achieve that.”

Massengale loves how much time Fisher puts into special teams at practices and he’s excited to see what he can do at the college level.

“I really can’t wait, I am interested to see I went to one practice to see how everything goes,” Massengale said. “I loved to see how they dedicated an amount of time to the whole practice to let the kickers do what they want to do, work on field goals, extra points, punting all toward that subject along. It will be nice to have all that training under my belt.

“That’s what I am most excited for, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot, that I can go in and elevate my game, I’m very excited.”

Fisher liked the fact that Massengale is someone who has only kicked since sixth grade, and hasn’t been to all the kicking camps. It made them feel like he’s someone they can work with and see grow as a player.

“One of them (the things) for sure was the raw talent thing,” Massengale said. “Going through high school being self taught, it was good for them to see they can work with me and help me elevate my game a ton.”

In high school Massengale kicked, played receiver and linebacker. He had thoughts in the past of maybe playing other positions in college, but he realized that kicking was for him.

“I was thinking about playing other positions as well and thinking what I wanted to improve myself on, and it’s kicking,” Massengale said. “I feel like I have a skill to capitalize on and I want to elevate that as much as possible.”

For Massengale when it came to Fisher it seemed to be the perfect fit for sports and academics.

“When it comes to athletics it’s awesome to be able to do what you love, but the academic standpoint comes first,” Massengale said. “The classrooms, the teachers it all rally appealed to me. I’m not only excited about the football aspect, but being able to go in and learn a ton is exciting for me.”

Massengale plans to major in business and minor in sports marketing and management.

The one thing that makes Fisher so appealing as well is the location, in Rochester, that gives him a lot of internship opportunities nearby.

“The thing with Fisher, especially their business program, their internship opportunities are incredible,” Massengale said. “One of them were like the coach helper type for the coaches, now she has an internship and she’ll be traveling with the Buffalo Bills with her job, which is incredible.”

For Massengale the biggest thing is he’s anxious to keep his football career going for another four years.

“I am very excited, I have been sitting here thinking about it since high school football ended,” Massengale said. “I knew deep inside of me I didn’t want my high school football career to end. These years at Fisher are going to be incredible.”
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IN PHOTO: Ben Massengale kicks for Horseheads. . . PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES