WITH HIS next field goal for the Saint Mary’s Huskies, likely Saturday night against the Mount Allison Mounties in Moncton, Truro’s Justin Palardy will stand alone in the AUS record book.

The Canadian mark is in view.

Not bad for a Cobequid Cougars grad who just hoped to make the Huskies as a rookie in 2006, competing against a handful of prospects.

"I was just trying to earn a spot, that was my first goal," he said Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Palardy, a protege of former CFL great Terry Baker, made all four of his field-goal attempts on Friday against Mount A in Halifax, giving him 56 field goals in three and a half seasons. He is tied with St. Francis Xavier’s Jadran Mlinarevic, who played from 1982-86.

In the same game, Palardy passed former Acadia kicker Will Godfrey for the conference record for converts at 101. The six-foot, 200-pound Palardy has never missed an extra-point try.

He stands in sight of the CIS record for field goals of 70 set by Western Ontario’s Frank Jagas from 1990 to 94.

He could crush the record if he plays five years, something he intends to do if he’s not in the CFL next year. He’s got a semester of school to finish in 2010 and would be surprised if he’s not back with the Huskies.

"I’ve been doing my job consistently over the last four years, so there is no reason why I won’t break it if I play five years," he said. "The last few years I’ve finished with 14 (field goals), so the numbers will add up and I will be right there."

Palardy is also nearing some elite company on the conference all-time scoring list. He is tied with Mlinarevic at 278 with only Acadia kicker/receiver Bob Stracina (293) and legendary running back Paul Brule of St. F.X. (306) to catch.

"The consistency started right out of high school," said SMU head coach Steve Sumarah. "The one thing that stood out right away was his ability to punt and kick, and having one guy to do two jobs is huge.

"He consistently did it right over and over. If we wanted a 45-yard kickoff, he would kick 45 yards. If we wanted a 30-yard punt, he would have a 30-yard punt."

With his field goals against the Mounties, he moved past Bridgewater’s Baker on the AUS list. Baker, who went on to a 16-year CFL career, leading the league in scoring twice, had a combined 54 field goals for Acadia and Mount A.

It was Baker who tutored Palardy through his first two seasons with the Huskies. When Palardy was a senior at Cobequid, he would travel to Acadia, where Baker was coaching at the time, to learn from the master.

"I came here because Terry Baker was here and I knew if I was coached by him I would go a long way," he said. "I didn’t expect to play my first year, but I’ve been fortunate enough to play every game."

"Terry saw the potential right away," Sumarah said.

Palardy is a two-time AUS scoring champion with a 10-point lead toward his third. He’s been the league’s all-star placekicker for the past two seasons and the all-star punter last year.

He has made 14-of-16 field-goal attempts this year, including 10 in a row, and is 56-for-73 in his career, an impressive 76.7 per cent. His longest is 48 yards, but he made a 57-yard boot in practice last week and wants a crack from beyond the 50-yard line in a game.

There is no kicking coach at Saint Mary’s, but Palardy calls Baker, who no longer coaches in the league, when he needs somebody who understands the job.

Baker built Palardy’s fundamentals from scratch and can fine-tune his mechanics from afar.

Palardy missed a field goal earlier this season against Acadia and Baker diagnosed the miss while watching the game on television.

"He gives me advice I need to hear every now and again. When I missed against Acadia he knew exactly what happened, and I was thinking the same thing."

Accuracy has been his hallmark. Field-goal kicking is frequently a headache for CIS teams, but Palardy is 50-for-61 from inside the 40-yard stripe.

He said records are great, but what thrills him most is a flawless boot.

"The thing I love to see is the ball perfectly kicked, end over end, right through the uprights," he said. "It doesn’t matter from what distance."

( mmosher@herald.ca)

’I’ve been doing my job consistently over the last four years, so there is no reason why I won’t break it (national record) if I play five years.’

Justin palardySaint Mary’s kicker

 

This page last modified Sunday, 07-Nov-2010 16:43:31 AST