Newark high school football player turning heads as star kicker: 'Student of the game'
NEWARK, New Jersey -- From humble roots to the best high school kicker in the state, the legend of Ibrahim Cisse is skyrocketing.
Born in the Ivory Coast, he grew up playing football - as in soccer. When he moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of seven, he was so impressed with American football that he decided to teach himself how to play.
He started playing as a freshman at Weequahic High School, where he's now turning heads as the school's star kicker.
"I didn't know what football was," Cisse tells Eyewitness News. "I'm still learning, still a student of the game."
His emergency began after a coach saw him kick a ball and asked him to try out for the team.
"He put the ball on the ground and said, 'Kick it through the uprights,'" the high school athlete recalled. "I had Vans on, but I just hit it. It was easy for me."
Ibrahim's talent grew with the support of coaches who sent him to kicking camps in the summer, where he learned strategy and improved his already special talent.
"This past season, I mean he just blew up," said Weequahic High Football Coach Brian Logan. "He was kicking the ball like when you kick off into the end zone for touchbacks, and they can't run it out."
Cisse's leg accounted for 140 points the past two seasons.
"We get that impact on the team that some people can't," said Justin Murphy, who plays the long snapper position.
Cisse, Murphy, and Elijah Blakley, who plays holder, are star students at the Eagle Academy For Young Men of Newark but play for Weequahic.
This kicking trio believe their hard work pays off.
"We physically put the work in and make ourselves available and prepare ourselves the best we can so when opportunity comes, we're ready," said Coach Logan.
Ibrahim's family is gushing over his success, and the junior is preparing for next season.
He hopes to see his dream of being a college football kicks come true.
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