Cole Fisher stands ready behind the holder, preparing himself for the kick. The center snaps the ball. The holder catches it, sets it up, and waits. Fisher nails the ball with a powerful kick and the ball soars through the air and passes through the uprights. Cole Fisher, the Mercer Bears’ starting kicker, has just increased the team’s lead to seven points with a 49-yard field goal, breaking a school record.

That was the scene late in the fourth quarter of Mercer’s first win of the season against Tennessee Tech. During this game, Fisher scored two field goals and four extra points.

During his two years as a Mercer Bear, he has played in six games, successfully kicked seven field goals and nine extra points, and has kicked off for a total of 291 yards.

Many fans wonder what goes through a kicker’s head when they’re kicking a field goal, but Fisher tries to clear his mind when he’s lining up for a kick.

“A lot of kickers get themselves into trouble from thinking too much,” Fisher said. “I have a couple cue words, like when I’m taking my steps and lining myself up, but that’s it.”

Fisher played soccer until he was nine years old. Then, he decided to try football, but he was strictly a position player.

When his coaches found out he had played soccer, they asked if he wanted to try being a kicker. After a bit of practice and the necessary adjustment from kicking a soccer ball to kicking a football, he began to excel as a kicker.

Fisher said he has always enjoyed seeing other kickers’ success in their football careers and hopes to follow in their footsteps.