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Northern senior Sam Tapia was a standout safety in high school, but, in college he's learned to hit the ball with his foot, and a college punter was born
Montana State University-Northern senior Sam Tapia was a standout safety when he was recruited by junior colleges in California. But, hitting opponents was starting to take its toll on the San Diego native. Instead of abandoning football though, Tapia became a standout punter, and it eventually earned him a scholarship with the Lights. Now, Tapia has just two home games left at Northern, starting with Saturday's battle against nationally-ranked UM-Western. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Blue Pony Stadium.
Montana State University-Northern's Sam Tapia stands in front of the Northern practice field earlier this week. Tapia has only been with the Lights for less than two years, but, he's had a big impact on the Northern program as a punter, and a team leader.
Montana State University-Northern's Sam Tapia stands in front of the Northern practice field earlier this week. Tapia has only been with the Lights for less than two years, but, he's had a big impact on the Northern program as a punter, and a team leader.
Montana State University-Northern's Sam Tapia boots a punt during the Lights' season-opener against Mayville State back in August at the Blue Pony Stadium. Since coming to the Lights last season, Tapia has been a steady and reliable weapon for the Lights.
When it comes to football, one aspect of the game that is often underrated is the kicking game and even though it's often referred to as one third of the game, its importance can be overlooked.
Well, one person who understands just how important the kicking game can be, is Sam Tapia, who punts and kicks for the Montana State University-Northern football team.
"People always talk about how it's a third of the game," Tapia said. "But sometimes it doesn't get the attention that it deserves."
For his part, Tapia wasn't always a kicker. In fact, during his high school career, in San Diego, California, he played safety and was recruited to play junior college football at that position. While Tapia did play two years of junior college football, he wouldn't do it as a safety, because before his freshman season, he decided as far as the hits were concerned, enough was enough.
"I was just tired of getting hit," Tapia said. "I didn't want to do it anymore. I felt like my brain was getting mushy."
Ultimately, Tapia redshirted that first season of junior college. Yet, even though he wasn't playing, he was learning how to kick and punt from John Carney, a kicker with 22 years of NFL experience on his resume, along with a Super Bowl ring and 487 made field goals.
"I started training with John Carney," Tapia said. "His kid went to my high school and my dad was actually the one who persuaded to me to starting working out with John. Originally, I was going to try and play lacrosse, but there are just so many more opportunities in football."
After sitting out a year and training with Carney on what was essentially a daily basis, Tapia started punting for Palomar Junior College in San Diego and during his two seasons there, he put together a record-breaking career, notching 49 punts inside the 20, 17 in his first season and 32 in his second. He broke the school records single season (32), career (49) and single game punts (5) inside the 20.
Tapia's punting earned him All-Conference honors and also got him noticed by four-year football schools, including UNLV, where Tapia was slated to go before a mix up academically left him scrambling at the last minute.
"I was going to go to UNLV," Tapia said. "And I didn't have enough credits. So it was late in the process and the Northern coaching staff was interested in me. I came up here (to Havre) and decided to keep my football career going."
Coming to Northern from San Diego was a bit of culture shock for Tapia, but the cold weather was also shocking and he said learning to punt in the cold and the wind has been an adjustment.
"It's hard because sometimes I can't feel my hands," Tapia said. "So I have to watch the ball drop onto my foot and my foot is cold, so I really can't feel the ball hitting it. It makes it more difficult. And the ball is harder, which makes it more difficult to make good contact. The wind is another thing that really gets me. It's definitely something you have to account for and it makes it tough, especially at Blue Pony Stadium."
Currently, Tapia is averaging 35.4 yards per punt on 40 attempts this season. His ability to pin opponents inside the 20 hasn't changed and depending how things for the rest of the season and beyond, he said his punting career might not be over just yet.
"It's something I have thought about," Tapia said of pursuing professional football. "I know the work it would take for me to try and get where I'd want to go and I am trying to decide if I want to do that, but if I got a chance to go to a pro day or something, I would do that."
Either way, Tapia's two-year career with the Lights is coming to a close and this Saturday against Montana-Western will be one of his final outings, which means his days of kicking in the snow and cold will soon be over. However, in spite of the freezing temperatures and less than ideal conditions for punting, Tapia has enjoyed MSU-N and the community of Havre as a whole.
"It's just been great for me to get out of my comfort zone," Tapia said. "I have really enjoyed that and I have really enjoyed the people of Havre. It's just a great community and the people are really supportive."
Tapia and the Lights will take on the Bulldogs Saturday at 1 p.m., inside Blue Pony Stadium.
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