Concordia-St. Paul inks Panther kicker Conner Pals

Creston/O-M all-state kicker Conner Pals signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play for the Division II Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears.

Pals, a 3.8 grade point student at Creston High School, said he is getting a mix of athletic and academic aid to attend the private college in the Twin Cities. He plans to major in elementary education with a desire to gain a master’s degree in administration toward a career as an athletic director.

Pals, also an all-district defensive back and offensive wide receiver/running back for the state semifinalist Panthers, has some big kicking shoes to fill for the Golden Bears.

Senior kicker Tom Obarski was named D2Football.com All-American on the first team among several postseason awards. He also participated in the Senior Bowl and kicked a pair of field goals in the game while scoring 10 points.

“He was a heck of a player,” Pals said, “and he’ll have a chance to kick in the NFL, I think. They’ve talked to me and they think I have the same pop as he does. They think I could do the same things he did, if not better.”

Early chance

Obarski’s graduation opens a door for Pals to compete right away with the only other kicker on the team’s roster.

“He’ll get a shot,” Panther head coach Brian Morrison said. “Their assistant coach made it sound like he’ll have an opportunity to compete for a position right away. It’s a real good fit for him. Division II school in an outstanding conference, with teams like Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State-Mankato. Their conference the last four years has been represented as well as anyone in the NCAA Division II, including the MIAA.”

Last year, Minnesota State-Mankato was national runner-up, falling to CSU-Pueblo in the NCAA Division II title game. In the second round of the playoffs, the Mavericks topped the Minnesota-Duluth team that ousted Northwest Missouri State in the first round.

Former teammates Collin Bevins and Keaton Hulett play for Northwest Missouri State, and the possibility of facing them in a playoff situation intrigues Pals.

“We talked about that last weekend,” Pals said, smiling. “That would be a lot of fun, actually!”

Before Pals can line up a game-winning field goal against the Bearcats, there’s some work to do in the Golden Bears program. But Pals is optimistic. Concordia was 5-6 last year under head coach Ryan Williams, who took over in 2011.

“It’s definitely a program on the rise,” Pals said. “Coach (Ryan) McKim was friends with their offensive coordinator. He came down and talked and told me from watching film that I’ll have a chance to start right away. When I went up there for a visit I fell in love with everything about it. I love the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and I like the campus. It’s close, not real spread out. I liked everything about it. The coaches really made me feel wanted.”

McKim, Creston/O-M’s offensive coordinator, became acquainted with Concordia OC and recruiting coordinator Mike Shafer when McKim was working at Iowa State. The Cyclones were recruiting a player from North Dakota School of Science, a junior college where Shafer was coaching at the time.

The Northern Sun Conference schedule also includes Morrison’s alma mater, Wayne State (Neb.).

Other sports

Pals was also considering Iowa Western, several other Division II and NAIA schools and walk-on opportunities at Iowa State and UNI. Plus, he has drawn interest as a soccer and baseball recruit. He is Creston’s all-time leading scorer in soccer, surpassing the marks of his brother, Seth, last season.

The youngest son of Paul and Donna Pals of rural Orient said he ultimately decided on football kicking, which seems to offer the highest long-term potential. His comparison by the Concordia staff to Obarski, who has a chance to kick professionally, left an impact.

“Honestly, it was hard,” Pals said. “I wasn’t a huge soccer fan until my sophomore year, and last year when I broke my brother’s records. Coach Rodriguez asked me if I was interested and I started getting looks for soccer. Coach Birchard said I could have a future in baseball, too. After last football season and seeing where kicking could take me, I thought that would be the best decision.”

Pals has continued to work on his strength, now packing 172 pounds on his 5-foot-8 frame. He said several years of playing soccer through the Wildfire youth league and for the Panthers helped him develop as a kicker.

Stellar season

Pals had an outstanding senior season, going 6-of-9 on field goals with an Iowa 2014 longest of 52 yards at Greene County of Jefferson. That was the second-longest in Creston football history, trailing only a 56-yarder by Kevin Downey in 1975. It is also tied for 31st longest in Iowa history.

Pals also hit 59 of 63 extra points (93.7 percent) and ranked fourth in Class 3A with 22 touchbacks on kickoffs. He made all six extra points in the Panthers’ thrilling 50-49 overtime playoff quarterfinal victory, which earned the program’s first trip to the UNI-Dome.

Morrison said concentrating on just one job will make him that much better in college.

“He has great focus,” Morrison said. “Him not playing running back, wide receiver and cornerback, he’ll be fresh. It’s not easy to kick an extra point or a field goal when you’ve just ran the ball or caught the ball. When he gets to concentrate just on kicking, he’ll be real good.”

“My legs did get tired playing both sides of the ball and most special teams,” Pals acknowledged. “It will be an adjustment not playing. But I hope I get some tackles (on kickoffs). I’ll miss popping the pads a little bit!”

Pals, a longtime University of Iowa fan, isn’t sure how his Hawkeye gear will play in the Twin Cities, home of the Minnesota Gophers.

“Yeah, I might have to just wear that in my dorm room or something!” he said.