LHS senior Spencer Scott (13) drills a field goal against O-South.

Before the 2008 season began, nobody really saw the connection between Lawrence High senior Spencer Scott and LHS football.

For starters, Scott was new to town, arriving in Lawrence from Hays before the start of his junior year.

In addition, Scott considered himself more of a soccer player and a golfer than a football player. Beyond that, LHS never has been known as a program with a strong kicking game.

But then Scott came along and, in doing so, brought with him the kind of leg that would become another valuable weapon for the LHS attack.

“It’s the funniest story you’ve ever heard,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “Last year after a home game, when I was done interviewing with the paper, he came running up to me and said, ‘Coach, I can kick.’ This kid had a ball with him, and he grabbed one of his buddies to hold for him, and right there off the ground at Haskell Stadium he kicked a 35-yarder.”

The boot caught Wedd’s eye, and the LHS coach told Scott to look him up before the start of the 2008 season. Scott joined the team in August and has made a noticeable impact on the field.

In addition to providing LHS with a consistently deep kickoff, Scott has made four of five field goals and 19 of 20 extra points.

Scott’s long for the season is 31 yards. The others measured 21, 24 and 27 yards, and for his taste, he wouldn’t mind trying for a little farther out.

“I’d love to try the longer field-goal attempts,” Scott said. “But, really, I’ll do whatever coach says.”

If the game’s on the line and the margin is less than three, that might very well be a field goal, Wedd said. Scott has nailed a wind-aided 52-yarder in practice and said he’d feel comfortable trying anything from 45 yards and in. Wedd showed similar confidence.

“He’s got a strong leg, and if he has any aspirations to go on and kick somewhere in college, he could probably do that because you just don’t see that kind of leg in high school very often,” Wedd said. “If we get stymied on offense with the ball around the 30, I’d put him out there and feel like he’d have a shot at it.”