Andrew Nielsen
Whoever said kickers aren’t football players hasn’t met Andrew Nielsen.
The Valley City State University freshman out of Chugiak High was steady and strong for the Vikings in windy, freezing conditions as he converted a field goal and three extra points in last weekend’s 24-7 road win over Mayville State in North Dakota.
His effort was noticed by the NAIA’s North Star Athletic Association, which picked him as its Special Teams Player of the Week.
Nielsen’s field goal of 31 yards came in the first quarter matched his college career long as he split the uprights in 28-degree weather. He also extended his PAT streak to 19.
Valley City State (6-2) improved to 5-1 in the NSAA and will face first-place and nationally ranked Dickinson State (7-1) on Saturday.
Nielsen is another great boot man in a long line out of Chugiak, which has turned into the kicking capital of Alaska.
In addition to Nielsen, other elite kickers from Chugiak over the years have included Kyle Schierholt, Nathan Oliver, Bryan Maley and Josh Rolston.
A Mustangs’ kicker has held the state’s high school record since 2007, starting with Oliver’s 49-yarder and continuing with Maley’s 53-yarder in 2010 and Rolston’s current benchmark of 56 yards in 2020.
Many of these guys excelled in college as well.
Maley’s 45-yard field goal at Wagner in 2013 is the third-longest by an Alaska kicker at the NCAA level, while Schierholt’s 44-yarder at Humboldt State in 2007 and Rolston’s 44-yarder at Central Michigan in 2022 are tied for fourth.