Middle school athlete punts, passes and kicks his way to KC

By Mark G. Mumford

Story used with permission of The Barnstable Patriot

     When the Barnstable Silver Bullets youth football program brought the NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition to town for the first time in September, none of those involved thought they'd see a national finalist come out of the Cape. Think again.

      Jared Broberg, a multi-sport athlete at the Barnstable Middle School, has plans to go to bed "wicked early" tonight, because he and his parents are flying to Kansas City early tomorrow morning. They might score some steaks out in Missouri, but Jared is after a national PP&K title in the 12-13 year old division.

Jared turned 14 on Wednesday, but still competes in the younger division where he started and won the local competition.

      From there it was on to the regionals in Bristol, R.I., and another victory. Then just a couple of weeks ago, he won the competition held in Foxboro to represent the Patriots. He put up numbers good enough to finish fourth nationally.

Only four finalists are invited to Kansas City. In addition to Jared, they will be representing the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Detroit Lions.

      Jared's place kicking is his weakest portion of the competition, and he's been working out with the kicker from the Barnstable High School team.

Jared has played six seasons with the Silver Bullets. He's got good size for just turning 14, checking in at 6' tall and 155 pounds.

     "I'm really pumped for this," he said while taking a break from basketball practice this week. "I've been waiting for something like this for a long time."

The competition will take place on Sunday morning, before the playoff game between the Chiefs and the Indianapolis Colts. The champions will get their trophies in front of the big crowd at halftime. Broberg may well already be on Barnstable football coach Spanky Demanche's radar, and he says he can't wait to play for the Red Raiders.

      The Silver Bullets are already making plans for a second take on the PP&K competition, with an eye on August this time around.

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