Signed: K Jake Pinegar
WHAT HE DID: Pinegar missed four games this season due to a knee sprain, but he still hit nine of 13 field goal attempts, including a long of 52 yards. Two of his missed field goals were from beyond 60 yards. Ankeny won its first two playoff games before losing in the IAHSAA 4A semifinal. It finished with a 9-3 record. Pinegar also played defensive back and receiver for his high school team as a sophomore and junior. At one of Penn State's camp this summer, at which he earned his offer, he ran a 4.79-second 40-yard dash.
WHAT HE WON: Pinegar earned third-team all-state honors at defensive back his junior season. He then earned first-team all-state honors as a kicker this past season. Rated a two-star by Rivals, Pinegar is considered the No. 9 kicker in the Class of 2018 according to Kohls Kicking.
WHERE HE VISITED: One month before camping at Penn State, a stop in July that yielded an offer from the Nittany Lions, Pinegar was at Oklahoma for a camp. After earning an offer from PSU just the following month, he committed the following day. Pinegar also earned offers from Bowling Green, Indiana and Northern Illinois. The Hoosiers were considered Penn State's top competitor.
QUOTABLE: “I’ve always been able to kick the ball hard and what not. I started off getting recruited as a wide receiver and defensive back, and I kind of thought that would be my route. Then this past year I really started to tune things in with kicking and see where that could take me. (In track and field) I’m a long jumper (21-foot-7) and I’m a high jumper (6-foot-2). I’ve jumped school records in those. The hurdles are one of my events, too, that I really like. I do track and soccer in the spring, which is pretty hectic and busy. I used to play basketball. I played my freshman year and I only played it because at that time I was one of the very few kids who could get up and dunk the ball in a basketball game, so that was like the only fun part for me of playing basketball. After that I started to focus on football, track and soccer, and as of right now it’s going to be turning into football for college.”
PHIL’S TAKE: With the graduation of Tyler Davis, plus Alex Barbir’s decision to transfer, Pinegar’s signing should not have caught anyone by surprise. When he arrives on campus in June, Pinegar will immediately be in mix for both field goals and kickoffs. Besides Pinegar having a 50-plus yard range on field goals and close to 90-percent of his kickoffs being touchbacks in high school, Pinegar is one of the best pure athletes I’ve ever seen on film from a placekicker. In track he had a 21-foot-7-inch long jump and he’s high jumped 6-feet-2-inches. He’s got the potential to win the placekicker’s job as a freshman.
