LAURINBURG — Some high school football teams have dedicated punters who rarely step onto the field outside of fourth downs. Other teams delegate punts to whoever has the best leg, even if it’s the starting quarterback.
Scotland High School has Matt Sellers, and he’s the best punter in the Sandhills Athletic Conference —and one of the best in the state.
Sellers, a wide receiver and punter for the Fighting Scots, earned all-conference honors last year after punting for a total of 1,734 yards, the highest mark in the 4A classification. Sellers punted 44 times last season, and he often provided some relief when Scotland’s young offense was pinned inside its own territory.
The senior has been working hard over the summer, and has big plans for his final year of high school football.
“I’m trying to get (my punts) more down the field with more height, so I can help the defense out and pin them deep,” Sellers said.
Seller’s longest punt last season was 64 yards. But not all of his yardage came through the air.
“It may not go but 30 yards in the air, but he does a good job of rolling it the other 20,” head coach Richard Bailey said. “It’s not traditional how he goes about doing it, but he does a great job.”
Sellers’ ability to scramble his punts and hit his targets made it tough for opponents to attempt returns against him last year. It often worked to Scotland’s advantage defensively, as Sellers pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 13 times.
“He doesn’t always kick what I would call pro-style, beautiful 40-yarders with hang time, but he’s a good directional guy,” Bailey said. “I don’t know if they had a return yard against us on punts. He’s punting it out of bounds. He’s punting it away from people.”
Sellers loves balancing punting with his duties as a receiver. He said his kicking leg doesn’t get tired when he runs around on offense.
“It’s that great conditioning we have,” Sellers said.
Sellers is also a standout baseball player for the Scots. His .316 batting average was the second-highest mark on the varsity baseball team last season. He also had six doubles and a team-high three triples. After completing his junior season on the diamond, Sellers represented Scotland on the Region 4 team at the Powerade State Games over the summer.
Football is the focus now. Sellers has two goals on his mind as the start of the regular season approaches.
“Win the conference and beat Richmond,” he said.
