Football: Shore Regional Kicker Jake Monteiro Commits to Rutgers

Senior Jake Monteiro, the best statistical kicker in Shore Regional history, said Thursday night that he has committed to Rutgers University as a preferred walk-on.

Despite battling injuries for much of the season, Monteiro was a special teams weapon as a kicker/punter for a Blue Devils team that finished 11-1 and won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I title this past fall. A three-year varsity starter, Monteiro was a second-team All-Shore selection by Shore Sports Network as a junior and senior. This past fall, he averaged 35 yards per punt with five of his 17 landing inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, and he also connected on three field goals, including a 50-yard kick that was the longest in the Shore Conference this season.

As a junior, he went 37-for-39 on extra points and 9-for-12 on field goals with a long of 47 yards, tied for the longest field goal in the Shore Conference in 2013. His 20 career field goals are a Shore Regional record, and his nine field goals as a junior are the single-season record for the Blue Devils. He is the school's best kicker since Kevin Mills, who played in the mid-1980s and booted a school-record 58-yard field goal, which is believed to be a state record, and went on to kick at Penn State.

Monteiro said Rutgers will also give him a look as a punter, but he will compete with incumbent starter Kyle Federico, a rising senior, for the place-kicking duties. Monteiro is the second member of the special teams unit from Shore's championship squad to commit to an FBS squad as a preferred walk-on, as his long-snapper, senior James Bedell, is headed to UConn.