Published: November 03, 2009 12:24 am      

Peaceful easy feeling

Dalton alum a clutch kicker for Eagles

When Adrian Mora stepped foot on Georgia Southern’s campus in Statesboro before the 2007 season, he already felt like he fit in.

The former Dalton High football standout, who was a four-time Daily Citizen All-Area Team selection as a kicker, wasn’t intimidated by the prestige of the Eagles’ football team.

“I come from a high school with a lot of tradition,” said Mora, who as a senior helped the Catamounts post their 47th consecutive winning season. “So coming into a college with tradition — six national championships — I was ready for that.”

It didn’t take long before the Eagles coaching staff knew just how ready he was. Four games into his redshirt freshman season, he was called on to replace senior Jesse Hartley, who was 0-for-3 on field goal attempts in the first three games.

As fate would have it, Mora’s first collegiate kick would be a 41-yard field goal early in the first quarter of a scoreless game against Elon.

Talk about a tone-setter to start off your college career.

“It would have been nice to kick an extra point first,” he said. “But I had the mentality to make it, and when I did it was a big boost for me.”

Not only did he make that one, but three minutes later he drilled a 32-yarder, though Elon would rally to win, 22-20, on a last-second field goal.

Despite the Eagles’ loss, Mora on the starting job, which he holds to this day.

Mora was 10 of 12 on field goals, with a long of 42 yards, in 2008. He would have ranked among the national (Football Championship Subdivision) leaders had he met the standard minimum games played.

He’s followed up a promising freshman campaign with an even more impressive sophomore campaign. He currently leads the Southern Conference in field goals made (13 of 15), field goal percentage (86.7) and field goals made per game (1.62).

Against Wofford, he kicked 50- and 48-yard field goals in a 26-21 win.

But his most memorable kick came against Albany State in the season opener. With 40 seconds left, Mora made a 44-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 29-26 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Earlier, he missed a 51-yarder that would have tied the game.

“Missing that field goal made me want to work harder,” he said. “What better way to redeem yourself than to make the game winner?”

Through eight games, the Eagles are 4-4 and 3-2 in Southern Conference play.

It’s Mora’s tough mindset that his former Dalton High coach, Ronnie McClurg, said separates him from a lot of kickers. In Mora’s senior year with the Cats, he kicked two 54-yard field goals.

“The thing is, it hasn’t surprised me to see the success he’s having,” McClurg said. “He had that mentality and he could focus on the task at hand. By his senior year, any time we crossed the 50 we felt like we had a shot at three points.”

For Mora, it doesn’t matter where the Eagles are on the field, he’s ready to kick the ball.

“I have a lot of confidence,” he said. “Even if I don’t have a good week in practice, I’m the type of person to go into a game trusting my abilities, knowing I’m going to make it.”

With his confidence backed by solid results, future accolades such as all-conference or even All-America honors are certainly possible. He admits playing professionally is in the back of his mind, though right now he’s focusing on his education — he’s majoring in finance — and improving with each game and season.

“Things are going good right now,” he said. “If they can get better, then why not give (playing professionally) a chance? Right now, all I can do is a good job and hope to get noticed by a scout.”