ST. LOUIS —  —



It didn’t take long for new Plainsmen placekicker J.P .(Joao Paull) Maciel to get noticed out on the field. On the first day of practice this season, Maciel was not only perfect from inside 40 yards but managed to end his day with a long-distance blast of 50 yards that elicited cheers from the team and the coaching staff.

“I didn’t expect to make one from 50 yards,” said Maciel who brings a several years of soccer experience with him, but is getting his first taste of American football.

The Enid High senior immigrated to the United States with his family five years ago from Brazil where soccer is all the rage and American football ... well, let’s just say it’s about as familiar to the average Brazilian as cricket is to Americans.

“I have played soccer since I was 3 years old, but had never heard of or seen American football until I came here,” explained the pleasantly soft-spoken Maciel.

“When I came here the first thing I had to do was learn English,” says Maciel, who clearly mastered that first hurdle. It was during this early period Maciel already was starting to learn how big football was in his newly adopted country, and especially in Enid.

“Everybody talked about it, but I had never seen it so I started to watch it. From the first game I saw it I told my dad that I was going to be a kicker.”

After playing soccer on the Enid varsity squad, Maciel finally was ready to give  football a try and received some assistance from former Plainsmen placekicker Matt Blakely.  

“Matt worked with me (in the offseason) and really helped me get comfortable,” explained Maciel who admitted it took a little bit to get used to  the unusual shape of the American football itself, but if early indications are  any kind of a sign, it’s just one more thing the thunder-footed kicker has mastered.

Maciel said he first had to learn where and how to strike the ball to get the most distance. “If you hit it too low, it will create too much spin and you lose distance, so you really have to strike it in the center,” he said.

Although learning a new game may seem a bit overwhelming, it’s really nothing compared to the adjustments the senior already has made.

After all, kicking a football seems minor compared to leaving family, your country and your language behind. But it is a move Maciel has not regretted.

“My uncle has lived here  (in Enid) for 15 years and told it was a great place to live,” Maciel said when discussing what brought him all the way to Enid from Brazil.

“He was right, and we really love it here,” Maciel said with a big grin however, he does admit to some homesickness, as his older brother, a member of the FBI in Brazil, remains behind.

Then there was the matter of the climate.

“Back there (Brazil) it was hot all the time, we didn’t have the different seasons like here,”  Maciel said.

But, as he has shown, he is quite adept at adapting to new climates and embracing challenges, something  Plainsmen head coach Tommy Parker noticed right away.

“J.P. is just a great kid,” Parker said.

“I didn’t know him at all until spring and what impressed me immediately was that he is such a hard worker. He wants to learn and wants to be good. He has a lot of ability and really has just scra-tched the surface of his knowledge of football. He has a great leg and a great work ethic.”

Maciel, who also booted a 48-yard field goal Friday night during Meet the Plainsmen, said he understands there is a difference between kicking in practice and in a game situation.

“There is a lot more pressure when people are watching and the other team is trying to block your kick,” said Maciel. “A lot of kicking is mental focus. “I just stay focused, look straight ahead at my target and concentrate on the kick.”

Maciel said he is looking forward to the Plainsmen’s first scrimmage Friday night at Edmond Memorial, when he will get his first taste of football competition and the pressure of kicking a long field goal in a game situation.

But, considering Maciel’s 5,000 mile journey from Brazil to Enid, what’s another 40 to 50 yards?



Coach speak



Like Maciel, Parker also is anxious to see his team in action when it scrimmages at Edmond Memorial at 7 p.m. Friday.

“That will give us our first look, obviously against a pretty good competitor,” Parker said.

“Right now we are still assessing things. It was good to finally put the pads on (Friday) and we have started using film to evaluate where we stand.”

Parker said his team is about where he expected it to be but over the next several days will be working in new defensive stunts and evaluating players at different positions.

“We need to work on our timing and things like that,” noted Parker, who also is focused on replacing several starters on defense, including four players from the secondary and a pair of linebackers.

“Depth is always an issue, and we have some holes to fill.”

Among the players who can expect to see time on both sides of the ball again this season are seniors Cody Lee at fullback and linebacker and Jonathan Burton at tailback and linebacker.



Infirmary report



The Plainsmen have come through the early part of the preseason with just a few minor nicks and bruises.

However, senior offensive lineman-defensive end Colby Scott is hobbling around on crutches with a leg injury from summer basketball. The team hopes to have Scott back within the next three to four weeks.