By Steve Carpenter
Hutchinson Community College Sports Information Director
CANYON, Texas – For Nestus Burger, kicking a ball – no matter the shape – is his thing.
Two seasons ago, Burger was booting soccer balls around the pitch for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Now the Hutchinson Community College sophomore placekicker will be kicking footballs in the NJCAA Division I National Championship game on Wednesday night.
Burger and the No. 3 Blue Dragons (10-1) take on No. 1 Iowa Western (11-1) at 7:32 p.m. CT at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in Canyon in a game nationally televised on ESPNU.
"This has been a riot," said the Perth, Australia native about his conversion from soccer to football. "Last year was very disappointing to come up on the short end. I'm just so blessed to be in this position here today."
After his freshman year at NJC where he was a goalkeeper, Burger was asked by his handler, Matt Wade, if he ever thought about kicking a football. Burger sought out another friend's advice and the process of kicking balls over the cross bar and not under it began.
Burger's ability drew the attention of the Blue Dragon coaching staff.
"We saw the talent he had and that's transferable to being a football kicker," head coach Drew Dallas said. "With his leg strength and personality, we thought Nestus would be a great fit."
Dallas and special teams coach Andrew Krause brought Burger along slowly in his first season with the Blue Dragons in 2023, mainly as a kickoff specialist. For the season, Burger had 28 touchbacks on 68 kickoffs.
But on October 7, 2023, against Dodge City, Burger got his very first chance at a field goal. Not just any field goal, but a 50-yarder, which had never been done before in Blue Dragon history.
"That field goal changed my life," Burger said. "I walked out there and was so nervous. My holder Stefan (Forbes) and I kicked 50 yarders many times in practice. He looked at me and he told me to take a deep breath and …"
A school-record 50-yard field goal was right down the middle with room to spare.
"If I would have missed it, I don't think they would have given me another chance," Burger said laughingly.
Burger finished his first season as a placekicker 5 of 8 on field goals, including three in the NJCAA national semifinals against East Mississippi, and he was 19 of 19 on extra-point tries.
This season, Burger has been busy.
He has 45 touchbacks on 75 kickoffs. He is 8 of 16 on field goals with a long of 40 yards and he's 59 of 62 on extra-point placements. One of his field goals was a walk-off 31-yard field goal in overtime in Hutchinson's 33-30 win over Iowa Central on September 14 at Gowans Stadium.
Through it all the past two seasons, Burger is thankful for Dallas and Krause for the opportunity.
"I've been so appreciative of both of them for the chance to play here," he said. "They were nice enough to give me the opportunity to walk on and I worked hard from here."
"Nestus is an extremely fun personality and talented young man," Dallas said. "I've really enjoyed watching him work on his skillset and watching him improve. He's a great teammate and an integral part of what we tried to build here."
Burger hasn't made any definite future plans and looks forward to the next chapter of his career. Whatever and wherever that decision is and where it will lead him, Burger will let people know that it all started at Hutchinson Community College.
"I just love it here at Hutch," he said. "I'm so thankful for the chance I got here. If I got to go to a junior college again, it would for sure be Hutchinson."