Ooltewah's Laszlo Toser III kicks a field goal in September against East Hamilton. He was named Monday the TSSAA Mr. Football kicker of the year.
Laszlo Toser of OoltewahMURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Laszlo Toser III was probably tired by the time he got home Monday.
He intended for his Tennessee Titans Mr. Football trophy to stay in his lap for the duration of the ride home.
If he wasn't too tired when he got home, he was going to get it mounted above his bed.
"It's special, so special," the Ooltewah senior beamed at the conclusion of the TSSAA awards banquet.
This 30th Mr. Football banquet marked the third time in four seasons that a Chattanooga-area athlete has won the kicking award. Henrique Ribeiro of Baylor won it in 2011, and the Red Raiders' Rafael Gaglianone received it in 2013.
Toser was one of four Mr. Football finalists from the area, along with McCallie running back Alex Trotter, Marion County running back/linebacker Blake Zeman and Signal Mountain two-way tackle Harrison Moon.
Winners were linemen Zach Stewart of Coalfield, Parker Howell of Christ Presbyterian, Jack Jones of Oakland, Brant Mitchell of Knoxville Webb and Drew Richmond of Memphis University School and backs Kyle Akin of Trinity Christian Academy, Ke'Shawn Vaughn of Pearl-Cohn, Jauan Jennings of Blackman, Clay Beathard of Battle Ground Academy and Cole Euverard of Montgomery Bell Academy.
Stewart, Jones and Jennings are committed to the University of Tennessee.
Moon has committed to Mississippi State, which also has a commitment from Baylor quarterback Nick Tiano and has looked at Toser.
"They came to see Sean Freeman and me toward the end of October, and I'd like to go down there for a visit," said Toser, who has an official visit to Alabama scheduled for January. He also has made an unofficial visit to Tennessee Tech, and East Carolina coaches have asked him to come see them Thursday when the Pirates play Central Florida.
"There are several other FBS schools that are interested but haven't yet decided, but he'll have options," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said, adding that whichever team wound up signing Toser was getting a steal.
"People in the stands watching don't realize the kind of comfort zone you get when every kickoff goes into the end zone and when you know if you can get to the 30- or 35-yard line that you have three (points) if you want it, and then the other guy's not going to be able to return a punt because it is going to be sky-high," Bryan said.
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Toser, a three-year starter, converted 51 of 52 PATs and hit 15 of 19 field-goal attempts with a long of 52. Seventy of his 77 kickoffs sailed into the end zone. While his punting average was just 32.8 yards, Bryan was happy with it.
"He's a weapon some people just don't have," the coach said. "I'm not sure what his (punting) hang time was. I know our guys were down there before the ball hit the ground. The other guys having to start at the 20 and then not getting much on punt returns adds up to a lot of yards over the course of the year."
Ooltewah made it through the regular season undefeated, thanks in part to Toser, and went two games deep into the Class 5A playoffs before being eliminated.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.