Kingston, Massachusetts, junior among 34 small college placekickers cited
2018 Fred Mitchell Award Preseason Watch List Announcement
EASTON, Mass. (August 29, 2018) – Stonehill College junior placekicker Matt Haite (Kingston, Massachusetts/Silver Lake Regional) has been named to The Fred Mitchell Award's Season Opening "Watch List" for the second-straight year for his excellence on the football field and for his continued community service efforts over his career.
Haite, named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie Team as a freshman, earns a spot on the preseason watch list for the second-straight year as he continues to work his way up Stonehill's all-time record books. He is the second Skyhawks placekicker named to the Fred Mitchell Award preseason "watch list" after Steve Grzywacz '16 earned the honor prior to the 2014 season. Haite, who was also named to the Mitchell Award September "Watch List" as a freshman, is one of 34 placekickers from NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and NJCAA named to the preseason list. He is one of 11 from NCAA Division II, including two from the NE10 and three from Super Region 1, named to the "Watch List." The Fred Mitchell Award is presented annually in December to a College Division kicker for excellence on the football field and in the community.
Haite is entering his third season as Stonehill's primary place kicker after making an immediate impact as a freshman. He finished second on the team in scoring as a sophomore last fall with 64 points, which is also good for eighth on the program's all-time single-season list and ranked ninth in the NE10 overall and third among kickers. He converted 10-of-14 field goals for the season, connecting on 4-for-5 from between 30 and 39 yards and 3-of-5 from 40-49 yards, including a career-best 49-yard field goal against Southern Connecticut State University on September 9, 2017. Haite finished 34-for-36 on PATs for the season.
Haite has also proven an important weapon on kickoffs, averaging 59.1 yards on his 59 kickoffs a year ago, with 14 touchbacks. He has connected on ten field goals in each of his first two seasons, totals that are tied for the second-highest single-season total in program history, while his 34 PATs last fall is also tied for second all-time, and his 118 career points are just four points shy of cracking the program's career top ten. Haite enters the season ranked fourth in program history with 58 career PATs and second with 20 career field goals – 13 shy of the program record of 33 by Grzywacz. His 95.1-percent career PAT kicking percentage is on pace to break the program mark as well.
Haite scored a career-high 14 points by converting all three field goal attempts, including a long of 44-yards, and converting all five PATs in Stonehill's season-opening win at Bloomsburg (Pa.) University last fall. In addition to his previous Mitchell Award Watch List and NE10 All-Rookie Team selection, he has earned a spot on the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll both semesters during his sophomore year.
Haite has an impressive list of community service under his belt, including volunteering for the Kingston Police Department's "Night Out" program, coaching and officiating in the NFL's Flag Football League in his hometown, while also coaching youth basketball with the Silver Lake Youth Basketball Association. He has cooked and served food at the Major John Bradford Homestead for the Jones River Historical Society in Kingston and volunteered his time at Angelo Elementary School in Brockton, Boston Higashi School for Autism and the Stonehill Farm.
Stonehill, picked eighth in the NE10 preseason coaches' poll, opens its 2018 season on Friday night, when it hosts Fairmont State University, from West Virginia, at W.B. Mason Stadium as part of Kickoff Weekend at the College at 6 p.m. Advance tickets are available for purchase online at stonehillskyhawks.com.
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