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Dartmouth’s Dylan Cadwallader (10) and Ryan Bloch (30) knock their helmets together after scoring an extra point during a game against Valparaiso at Memorial Field in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Dartmouth won, 35-13. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News / report for america — Alex Driehaus

Dartmouth’s Ryan Bloch kicks a field goal for an extra point during a game against Valparaiso at Memorial Field in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Dartmouth won, 35-13. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley news / report for america — Alex Driehaus

HANOVER — Ryan Bloch was ready for his college football career at Dartmouth to be over before it truly could begin.

A kicker from Naples, Fla., who came to the only Division I school that offered him a playoff opportunity, Bloch spent his freshman year in 2019 on the junior varsity team. His sophomore season was canceled due to COVID-19 and, last year, stuck behind Connor Davis on the depth chart, the only action Bloch saw was three extra-point attempts, two of which he made.

With Davis graduating, the starting kicker position appeared to be there for the taking. But Bloch, an environmental engineering major, decided to step away from football and focus on his studies and mental health. He missed spring practice and did not train for football over the summer.

“I was getting really busy with school, I was getting really busy figuring out my career,” Bloch said. “Football was just taking up a lot of time, and I just didn’t think it was for me anymore. It became less fun, (and) I wasn’t as into it.”

Football wasn’t for Bloch anymore, that is, until head coach Buddy Teevens called him out of desperation mere days before the start of the preseason. Senior Cameron Baller had the inside track to start at kicker until a hip injury cost him the entire season. That left senior Zach Drescher as the only true kicker on the roster, and Teevens, who handles the kickers and punters in addition to head coaching duties, needed an insurance policy.

Bloch did not immediately jump at the chance to return, but after weighing his options, he realized how much he missed the game.

“I was up here working remotely at my house. I had a flight home the next day,” Bloch said. “(Teevens) calls and explains the situation. In his words, (he said) ‘I completely respect your decision to step away, but would you reconsider?’ My career was more the focus, but I was missing it. Missing the lifts, missing the practice, missing the guys. I weighed it all out and wanted to come back.”

Bloch called some of his kicking coaches in Florida and spoke with Teevens and Big Green strength and conditioning coach Spencer Brown to come up with a two-week kicking crash course. His training regimen involved lifting, using a massage gun and as much football as he could handle. He finally joined the team the Sunday before the season opener.

Teevens said both kickers were capable after the intrasquad scrimmage on Sept. 8, but Drescher sustained an injury during the week of the Valparaiso game, thrusting Bloch into the starting role. Dartmouth did not attempt a field goal, but Bloch made all five of his extra points in a 35-13 Big Green win.

“He wasn’t sure, and he hadn’t kicked, and he had pretty much divorced himself from it,” Teevens said. “He missed all preseason, and then Drescher got hurt, and all of a sudden he’s the starting kicker coming out of retirement. He doesn’t have the strongest leg, (but) he does elevate the ball quickly, so it’s a tough ball to block.”

Bloch hopes to find a job in environmental consulting once he graduates, after completing an internship in that field last summer. But for now, his focus is back on football and returning to full strength, which he said is difficult as a kicker because he trains separately from the offensive and defensive players.

As for his range, Bloch said he needs the ball to be inside the 25-yard line to feel comfortable, which would mean a 42- or 43-yard field goal, though he has hit from around 48 or 49 yards in practice.

“I would have loved to get the first (field goal) out of the way, get all the firsts out of the way that first Saturday,” Bloch said. “But I’m very happy that I went perfect with PATs and did what I needed to do on kickoffs. It really got those first-game nerves out of the way, so I’m very settled and ready for that first field goal.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.

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