Jake Brown’s record-setting season at Lenoir-Rhyne put him at the top of the stat-sheet among North Carolina collegiate placekickers in 2024.
Brown booted a new Lenoir-Rhyne record 19 field goals during the Bears’ 10-win playoff season. He also added 35 extra points, giving him 92 kicker points for the full campaign – the most across all six divisions of play in our state.
Brown, a true sophomore from Indian Trail (Sun Valley HS), kicked the most field goals of any player in Division II this season. He led the South Atlantic Conference in most field goals per-game (1.45).
He has a career resume that includes three game-winning kicks. He proved spot-on in Lenoir-Rhyne’s playoff win over West Alabama, hitting field goals from 32, 38 and 25 yards as well as converting all four PAT attempts in the Bears’ 37-34 triumph.
His longest field goal of the season covered 45 yards. After this season Brown chose to enter the transfer portal. He has not yet announced his plans for the 2025 season.
Brown was the only North Carolina college kicker to account for more than 90 points in 2024. Five others earned 80 or more.
NC State’s Kanoah Vinesett finished with 88 points, hitting 18 field goals. His longest came from 52-yards out. Wake Forest’s Matthew Dennis recorded 84 points, North Carolina’s Noah Burnette had 83, Wingate’s Caleb Bonesteel had 81, while Duke’s Todd Pelino earned 80 points.
Gardner-Webb’s Jay Billingsley was the top FCS stat-performing kicker in our state, earning 68 points. Brevard’s Hugo Taylor led the Division III ranks with 61.
The longest field goals of the season came off the feet of Billingsley and Charlotte’s Stephen Rusnak. Both hit 54-yarders. Pelino and North Carolina Central’s Juan Velarde nailed 53-yarders, while Vinesett, Burnette, North Carolina A&T’s Andrew Brown and East Carolina’s Andrew Conrad split the uprights from 52.
UNC Pembroke’s Jackson Hills outpaced everyone in the state in extra points with 56. The high-octane Braves, who scored in the 60s and 70s multiple times, kept him busy. Louisburg’s Jesse Viens was next closest with 44 PATs.
Scroll below for the full list of All-North Carolina collegiate leaders in kicker points.
2024 All-North Carolina Stat Leaders | Kicker Points
The table below is sortable.
| POINTS | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | DIV | FG | PAT | LONG FG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | Jake Brown (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | 19 | 35 | 45 |
| 88 | Kanoah Vinesett (NC State) | FBS | 18 | 34 | 52 |
| 84 | Matthew Dennis (Wake Forest) | FBS | 16 | 36 | 42 |
| 83 | Noah Burnette (North Carolina) | FBS | 15 | 38 | 52 |
| 81 | Caleb Bonesteel (Wingate) | D2 | 17 | 30 | 48 |
| 80 | Todd Pelino (Duke) | FBS | 15 | 35 | 53 |
| 68 | Jay Billingsley (Gardner-Webb) | FCS | 11 | 35 | 54 |
| 65 | Christian Lowery (Western Carolina) | FCS | 12 | 29 | 47 |
| 65 | Connor Lytton (Campbell) | FCS | 12 | 29 | 47 |
| 62 | Jesse Viens (Louisburg) | JUCO | 6 | 44 | 37 |
| 62 | Jackson Hills (UNC Pembroke) | D2 | 2 | 56 | 41 |
| 61 | Andrew Conrad (East Carolina) | FBS | 10 | 31 | 52 |
| 61 | Hugo Taylor (Brevard) | D3 | 7 | 40 | 41 |
| 59 | John Hernandez-Vargas (Fay State) | D2 | 8 | 35 | 43 |
| 58 | Stephen Rusnak (Charlotte) | FBS | 11 | 25 | 54 |
| 58 | Juan Velarde (North Carolina Central) | FCS | 5 | 43 | 53 |
| 57 | Jason Zapata (Livingstone) | D2 | 13 | 18 | 49 |
| 55 | Lon Teachey (Mars Hill) | D2 | 9 | 28 | 36 |
| 54 | Braxtyn Green (NC Wesleyan) | D3 | 11 | 21 | 43 |
| 54 | Adam Zouagui (Davidson)_ | FCS | 4 | 42 | 48 |
| 52 | Gilberto Lorenzana (Winston-Salem St) | D2 | 9 | 25 | 37 |
| 51 | Andrew Brown (North Carolina A&T) | FCS | 12 | 15 | 52 |
| 49 | Bryson Sims (Catawba) | D2 | 8 | 25 | 48 |
| 45 | Jacob Meneses (Johnson C. Smith) | D2 | 4 | 33 | 32 |
| 39 | Luke Barnes (Elon) | FCS | 6 | 21 | 41 |
| 37 | Michael Hughes (Appalachian State) | FBS | 7 | 16 | 41 |
| 37 | Benjamin Turner (Shaw) | D2 | 3 | 28 | 38 |
| 36 | Jack Berkowitz (Elon) | FCS | 7 | 15 | 46 |
| 35 | Samuel Andrae (Methodist) | D3 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| 33 | Paxton Robertson (Western Carolina) | FCS | 6 | 15 | 44 |
| 32 | Andrew Bontekoe (Barton) | D2 | 3 | 23 | 46 |
| 29 | Noah Perez (East Carolina) | FBS | 6 | 11 | 42 |
| 28 | Jackson Moore (Appalachian State) | FBS | 4 | 16 | 44 |
| 26 | Matthew Conord (Chowan) | D2 | 4 | 14 | 31 |
| 25 | Adriano De Castro (Guilford) | D3 | 3 | 16 | 30 |
| 24 | Thomas Chapman (Greensboro) | D3 | 2 | 18 | 46 |
| 20 | Kyle Cunanan (Charlotte) | FBS | 5 | 5 | 31 |
| 20 | Wade Robins (Catawba) | D2 | 3 | 11 | 43 |
| 19 | Riley Higgins (Elizabeth City State) | D2 | 3 | 10 | 31 |
More All-North Carolina College Stat-Leader Stories
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