By Southern Torch Staff

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Fort Payne High School sophomore place-kicker Alex McPherson was the holder in 2017 when his older brother Evan kicked a 60-yard field goal versus Brewer for the longest field goal made from the traditional center snap and hold in AHSAA history. Evan also had the AHSAA’s third longest punt of all time, 84 yards, in the same game.

Last week, it was Alex’s turn. The 5-foot-7, 125-pounder booted two field goals covering 42 and 57 yards and two extra points for eight total points to lift the Wildcats to a 20-13 win over Albertville to earn the AHSAA Football Special Teams Spotlight for Week 2 of the 2019 season. Both field goals came in the first half with the 57-yarder coming with one second left before intermission to cut Albertville’s lead to 7-6. Coach Chris Elmore’s Wildcats scored two fourth-quarter TDs to win by seven points.

    Alex also remained perfect this season on extra points and is 12-of-12 on the year. His 57-yarder, ironically, tied oldest sibling Logan’s best kick in high school. Logan McPherson drilled a 57-yard field goal against Boaz in 2012 to set the Fort Payne school record which Evan broke in 2017. Logan, who earned all-state honors as a punter/kicker in 2012, served as a punter at Louisiana Tech from 2013-16 – averaging 40.4 yards on 62 punts as a sophomore.Evan, currently a sophomore at Florida, was an Under Armour All-America selection in high school and was selected to the 247 True Freshman All-America Team last season connecting on 17-of-19 field-goal attempts for the Gators. He was perfect on all 50 PAT kicks and finished as a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in 2018.  He is currently 2-for-2 on field goals this season and has extended his perfect streak of PAT kicks in college to 55 with 5-of-5 in Florida’s first two games.