• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Dec 4, 2008 - Page: 6C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Kickers and punters are typically the Rodney Dangerfields of football. They seldom get respect. Many coaches don’t consider them to be “real players.”

Redemptorist’s Kyle Hall and Ryan Joffrion are exceptions to the rule. The two seniors are respected and they each have a role in the Wolves game plan.

“The kicking game and how you handle it can change a game,” Redemptorist coach Guy Mistretta said. “Kyle and Ryan have been so steady for us that we tend to think of them as one entity.

“We practice special teams every day. Those guys put in plenty of time outside the team drills. It’s paid off.”

Hall and Joffrion are expected to play major roles when the 13th-seeded Wolves (10-2) travel to Crowley to take on No. 1 seed Notre Dame (12-0) in a Class 3A semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Last week, Hall boomed two punts of more than 50 yards and put five kickoffs in the end zone to help Redemptorist win the all-important battle for field position in a 7-0 quarterfinal victory over rival Parkview Baptist. He also booted an extra point.

Though Joffrion missed on a 20-yard field-goal attempt, Hall said the duo will be ready.

“Last week I was able to pick up the slack and I know Ryan will do the same for me,” Hall said. “We watch and help each other out in practice.

“Ryan has improved so much since he started. He’s better at PAT kicks and field goals than I am. We can each focus on our strengths.”

Mistretta figured Hall, also a baseball player for the Wolves, would handle all the kicking chores in 2007. Then he saw Joffrion, a defensive lineman as a freshman and an offensive lineman-junior varsity kicker as a sophomore, practicing.

The goalkeeper on Redemptorist’s soccer team, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound Joffrion made an impression on Mistretta.

What evolved was a combination in which Hall handles the punting, kickoffs and long field goals. Last season, Hall averaged 40.0 yards per punt. Joffrion made 13 of 16 field goals in his first season, including a long of 41 yards. He also made 50 of 56 point-after kicks.

This season, Hall (5-10, 170) has a 38.8 punting average. He has overcome an early-season knee injury to boot seven kickoffs into the end zone in the last two games.