Henrique Ribeiro handled most of the kicking duties for UTC last season, including punts and kickoffs. He has made a program-record 90 extra-point kicks in a row.Henrique Ribeiro was determined to make up for a dismal finish to the 2014 football season, when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga kicker missed six of his final 10 field-goal attempts.
The Baylor School graduate atoned for his lapse with a strong 2015 and gained a high level of confidence he has carried into this preseason as he prepares for his senior year.
Ribeiro has made 90 consecutive extra-point kicks, which is a UTC record and the fifth-longest streak in Southern Conference history. He also connected on 17 of his 21 field-goal attempts in 2015, earning first-team all-conference honors. His highlight of the season was the kick he made as time expired to defeat Wofford 20-17 on Oct. 24 in Spartanburg, S.C.
He handled almost all of the Mocs’ kicking responsibilities in 2015, when he was the kickoff specialist and had a 43.3-yard average on punts.
“The biggest thing is he’s consistent,” UTC special teams coach Rusty Wright said Thursday morning after the first of two practices scheduled for the Mocs.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a punt, kickoff, field goal, whatever, he’s consistent. We trot him out there, we’re expecting three points. If he’s kicking off, he kicks where we ask and he puts it down there so we can go cover, but nobody pays attention to those guys until something goes bad – they miss a kick, a kickoff gets returned – but that’s his biggest deal is that he’s been consistent, and that’s why he’s so good.”
In addition to being a preseason first-team all-conference selection this year, he is a preseason third-team All-American for College Sports Madness.
But Ribeiro is far from comfortable just because he has received some recognition. He traveled to a number of kicking camps this summer, vowing to work on his kickoffs because he was unhappy with his 60.7-yard average on 76 kicks last season.
“It wasn’t where I wanted it to be, where it was before,” Ribeiro said. “I used to be known for my far kickoffs, but last season I didn’t show that. It’s something I’ve worked hard on this offseason, and I feel like it’s paying back. All the practices so far I feel pretty good about how I’m kicking the ball.”
He admits that the sour end to the 2014 season – which included an 0-for-3 field-goal performance against Indiana State in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs – motivated him last season. This season’s motivation is not the awards he has received or is projected to earn, but just to be better than last year.
“Last season I felt was good, but not great by any means,” he said. “That’s what I focus on – not past season awards or preseason stuff. That’s all based on what happened last season, but it doesn’t matter now.
“I’m just focused on what I’m going to do this season.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.