Warsaw’s Mevis Brothers Making An Impact: Harrison Mevis Shining In America’s Top CFB Conference

October 2, 2021 at 5:01 a.m.
Warsaw’s Mevis Brothers Making An Impact: Harrison Mevis Shining In America’s Top CFB Conference
Warsaw’s Mevis Brothers Making An Impact: Harrison Mevis Shining In America’s Top CFB Conference

By Connor McCann-

COLUMBIA, Mo. - When Harrison Mevis committed to kick for the University of Missouri in September, 2019 as a 3-star recruit, he exchanged one set of tiger stripes for another. He exchanged the bright lights of Northern Lakes Conference play for the most gargantuan setting in college football: the Southerstern Conference. When the lights have shined their brightest, Mevis has made the most of every opportunity, having the most productive season by a Missouri freshman kicker in over a decade in 2020.

Mevis went 16-29 in field goals playing for Warsaw, including a long of 51-yards against Michigan City. He broke that mark in Missouri’s Week 4 loss to Boston College last Saturday, hitting a 56-yarder at the horn to force overtime. He’s followed up a successful freshman campaign by going perfect through four weeks of his sophomore season, 5-5 on field goals and 20-20 on his extra points.

 Harrison has had a very successful start to his college career. He credits a lot of being able stay prepared under pressure to his experiences playing for Warsaw and against NLC competition.

“It was great playing for Coach Curtis. Obviously he’s kind of an old school coach that’ll kind of get on you if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to,” Mevis said. “But the values that he goes after are really good.

“NLC football is pretty big for that level. Many coaches that I’ve played against here. There was a coach at Arkansas, just last week against SEMO there was a guy from Plymouth for quite a while. It’s kind of funny to see the NLC keep popping up here. Its big time football.”

When asked if there were any similarities between Curtis and his current head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Harrison  paused for a long time before he answered, and only gave a sentence:

“They both like winning.”

I’ve worn my Mizzou polo around town a couple of times since I got here about a month and a half ago. Every time, without fail, somebody asks me if I know Harrison Mevis. He laughed when I asked how his local celebrity status felt.

“I’m just the kicker, I’m here to kick and have fun,” he said. “I’ve never really thought about being a celebrity.”

There weren’t many lows during the kickers freshman season, but there were plenty of highs. The peak being his performance against Arkansas, the Tigers rival of sorts since arriving to the SEC. Mevis was a perfect 5-5 on his field goal attempts including a long of 51 and a game-winner as time expired. He scored 20 of Mizzou’s 50 points.

“It was an awesome feeling. It was one of my better performances and better games of the year,” Mevis said. “It’s a really good experience for me to get those game winners because I know I’m probably going to have a few more pop up and I really just try to relish the environment.”



Those kinds of kicks will come in bunches for Mevis, who many believe has a big enough leg to kick on Sundays for many years to come. But Harrison says he’s not really focusing too much on that, as he has a lot of work to accomplish in Columbia.



“I’m just taking it one kick at a time, but I’d like to break a few records here. Maybe be the all-time point leader. I want to prepare myself for the next level but I also want to win as much as possible. Hopefully we’re in Atlanta, Georgia in a few years here,” he said.



Mevis’s older brother Andrew kicks at Iowa State. Andrew, a 2017 Warsaw graduate, went 9-12 on field goal attempts as a senior, including a then-school record 51-yarder. He joined the Cyclones this season as a graduate transfer after three years at Fordham.



“My brother kind of brought me into [kicking],” Harrison said. “It’s something that me and him absolutely love to do and we love to compete.



“We love to kick. It’s part of our DNA.”



The Mevis brothers stay in contact with their special teams coach at Warsaw, Cole Richard. The three share a groupchat, going over big kicks from the previous week.



“We’re always looking at each other’s film during the season. I know he hit a big 54-yarder a couple weeks ago and we were looking at that,” Mevis said. “The few days each week before a game we’re a little more quiet, we’ve got to get mentally ready.”



As for his nickname, the “Thicker Kicker” approves.



“It started out as just a little team thing here in Columbia,” he said. “Then it kind of just exploded here. I like it.”



The Tigers have underperformed through four games of the young college football season, but Mevis has been a bright spot on the team. The sky is the limit for the leg of the younger Mevis brother, and if he keeps improving at this lightning fast rate, he may even boot one up there that doesn’t come down.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - When Harrison Mevis committed to kick for the University of Missouri in September, 2019 as a 3-star recruit, he exchanged one set of tiger stripes for another. He exchanged the bright lights of Northern Lakes Conference play for the most gargantuan setting in college football: the Southerstern Conference. When the lights have shined their brightest, Mevis has made the most of every opportunity, having the most productive season by a Missouri freshman kicker in over a decade in 2020.

Mevis went 16-29 in field goals playing for Warsaw, including a long of 51-yards against Michigan City. He broke that mark in Missouri’s Week 4 loss to Boston College last Saturday, hitting a 56-yarder at the horn to force overtime. He’s followed up a successful freshman campaign by going perfect through four weeks of his sophomore season, 5-5 on field goals and 20-20 on his extra points.

 Harrison has had a very successful start to his college career. He credits a lot of being able stay prepared under pressure to his experiences playing for Warsaw and against NLC competition.

“It was great playing for Coach Curtis. Obviously he’s kind of an old school coach that’ll kind of get on you if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to,” Mevis said. “But the values that he goes after are really good.

“NLC football is pretty big for that level. Many coaches that I’ve played against here. There was a coach at Arkansas, just last week against SEMO there was a guy from Plymouth for quite a while. It’s kind of funny to see the NLC keep popping up here. Its big time football.”

When asked if there were any similarities between Curtis and his current head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Harrison  paused for a long time before he answered, and only gave a sentence:

“They both like winning.”

I’ve worn my Mizzou polo around town a couple of times since I got here about a month and a half ago. Every time, without fail, somebody asks me if I know Harrison Mevis. He laughed when I asked how his local celebrity status felt.

“I’m just the kicker, I’m here to kick and have fun,” he said. “I’ve never really thought about being a celebrity.”

There weren’t many lows during the kickers freshman season, but there were plenty of highs. The peak being his performance against Arkansas, the Tigers rival of sorts since arriving to the SEC. Mevis was a perfect 5-5 on his field goal attempts including a long of 51 and a game-winner as time expired. He scored 20 of Mizzou’s 50 points.

“It was an awesome feeling. It was one of my better performances and better games of the year,” Mevis said. “It’s a really good experience for me to get those game winners because I know I’m probably going to have a few more pop up and I really just try to relish the environment.”



Those kinds of kicks will come in bunches for Mevis, who many believe has a big enough leg to kick on Sundays for many years to come. But Harrison says he’s not really focusing too much on that, as he has a lot of work to accomplish in Columbia.



“I’m just taking it one kick at a time, but I’d like to break a few records here. Maybe be the all-time point leader. I want to prepare myself for the next level but I also want to win as much as possible. Hopefully we’re in Atlanta, Georgia in a few years here,” he said.



Mevis’s older brother Andrew kicks at Iowa State. Andrew, a 2017 Warsaw graduate, went 9-12 on field goal attempts as a senior, including a then-school record 51-yarder. He joined the Cyclones this season as a graduate transfer after three years at Fordham.



“My brother kind of brought me into [kicking],” Harrison said. “It’s something that me and him absolutely love to do and we love to compete.



“We love to kick. It’s part of our DNA.”



The Mevis brothers stay in contact with their special teams coach at Warsaw, Cole Richard. The three share a groupchat, going over big kicks from the previous week.



“We’re always looking at each other’s film during the season. I know he hit a big 54-yarder a couple weeks ago and we were looking at that,” Mevis said. “The few days each week before a game we’re a little more quiet, we’ve got to get mentally ready.”



As for his nickname, the “Thicker Kicker” approves.



“It started out as just a little team thing here in Columbia,” he said. “Then it kind of just exploded here. I like it.”



The Tigers have underperformed through four games of the young college football season, but Mevis has been a bright spot on the team. The sky is the limit for the leg of the younger Mevis brother, and if he keeps improving at this lightning fast rate, he may even boot one up there that doesn’t come down.
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