49ers land kicker from Sunnyslope
This is No. 5 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 252) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.
SPOTLIGHT: 2/10/23
Part of finding a college home as a kicker is looking for an opportunity. It's not like being a receiver or linebacker where each college plays multiple players and you can work your way up the depth chart. In many cases, it's waiting for the incumbent to graduate.
That's the situation at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Last year's kicker for the 49ers was Antonio Zita, who was a senior graduate transfer. Sunnyslope's Kyle Cunanan received a preferred walk-on offer in late December, after the early signing period. He acted on it and committed to Charlotte a few weeks later.
He didn't start kicking until his he started high school. Cunanan was the varsity placekicker as a freshman and then added in kickoffs and punting his sophomore year. He had his best year as a senior, going 11-of 14 in field goals with a long of 51 at Marana in the playoffs. That kick was the longest by anyone in Arizona last season.
"I attribute my improvement to my kicking coaches: Adam Tanalski, Steve Rausch, Joey Cavale, and Coach Tellez," Cunanan said in an e-mail interview. "Another thing that helped with my achievement of All-5A Conference was the opportunities I was given in games to prove my abilities with my field goal unit of long snapper Preston Mosher and holder Brandon Pecak."
In between his offer from Charlotte and the commitment, Cunanan took a visit to the campus, where he met the coaches and checked out the facilities. Charlotte hired a new head coach in the offseason (Biff Poggi) and he has hired a new staff.
"While I was there, I was told all about the improvements and changes that were being made to the program," Cunanan said. "The special teams coordinator, Coach Fro (Greg Froelich), ran me through how things would be run in the coming season, and I loved his coaching style. Also, with the great things Biff Poggi has done for the programs he's been with in the past, I saw an amazing opportunity for myself at Charlotte."
Cunanan is ranked No. 59 nationally for his class by Chris Sailer Kicking. He's strong with his kickoffs (45 touchbacks out of 59 attempts last season) and has a range up to about 55 yards. He scored 197 points in his Viking career. Last season, he was 40-of-43 in extra points and averaged 38.1 yards punting. We at Arizona Varsity named Cunanan as our 5A Kicking Specialist of the Year.
One day at practice, with a hurricane of wind blowing behind him, he booted a field goal of 74 yards. Cunanan's longest in still conditions is 65.
At 4-4, Sunnyslope was on the bubble for the playoffs and likely needed to win its final two games to make it back to the playoffs. Both proved to be dramatic ones with the Vikings upsetting a Desert Mountain team that was ranked No. 1 in 5A and had a chance to make the Open Division (23-20). That was followed by a much tougher battle against Skyline than anyone expected. Slope prevailed 40-37 to finish with a winning record.
In the Skyline game, the Vikings trailed 37-34 with two minutes remaining. As Sunnyslope approached midfield, it was looking like it might come down to a Cunanan kick to tie it up. Instead, Sunnyslope scored a touchdown for the win. Cunanan was 2-of-2 in field goals in that one with a long of 46. Without making both of those two kicks, the Vikings either tie or lose.
Cunanan said his most memorable moment of the year was the Desert Mountain victory.
"It was a great team win and everyone played their hearts out in the upset," Cunanan said. "It was also our Senior Night and the last time us seniors would ever play at Slope, so that added a whole new level of emotion."
The Charlotte football roster for next fall includes a redshirt freshman and a sophomore that handled kickoff duties last season. Cunanan is taking a preferred walk-on as of right now. He does carry a 4.0 GPA and competes just as hard in the classroom as on the field.
"When I get to Charlotte, the competition for the starting spot begins," Cunanan said. "When I win the job, and I'm confident in my abilities to do so, I will be placed on scholarship. I'm not entirely sure how much academic money they will give me yet, but there should be some."
It will be a season of new things for Charlotte. During a 3-9 season in 2022, the 49ers fired their head coach. UNCC is also making the move this year from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. Poggi was hired in November and was most recently an assistant at Michigan. Prior to that, he coached at Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore. SFA is a national power and appeared in a documentary titled "The Cost of Winning." HBO will be creating another documentary this year on Charlotte football. Be sure to tune in and you might see a kicker from Arizona.
Make sure to follow ArizonaVarsity.com on social platforms for more daily content!
Twitter (Arizona Varsity Podcast Network)
Twitter (Arizona High School Sports)
Support our sponsor:
