The terms &#8220great kicker” and &#8220SWAC kicker” have not often been interchangeable over the years.

John Howard is hoping to change that.

The Vicksburg High kicker accepted a scholarship offer from Grambling on Monday. National signing day was in early February, but Howard said his family decided to look for other scholarship offers before finally accepting the one from Grambling.

&#8220I’ve been wanting to go to Grambling since it started. It seemed like a good college for me,” said Howard, who will be one of three former VHS players on the Grambling roster next season. &#8220The scholarships that they had, my dad wanted to look at it and make sure it was the right amount of money.”

Howard was 2-for-4 on field goals and 17-for-22 on extra points in his two-year varsity career for the Gators, but earned a reputation as a strong-legged kickoff specialist.

He had nearly two dozen touchbacks on kickoffs, and was selected to the All-Region 2-5A team as a kickoff specialist.

Howard said he wasn’t sure if he wanted a chance to start right away or not, but was offered the opportunity by the Grambling coaching staff. The incumbent kicker, Tim Manuel, was just 6-of-12 on field goals in 2005, and 39-for-51 on extra points. The 76.5 percent conversion rate on extra points and 50 percent success rate of field goals were both the lowest in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Manuel was not the only SWAC kicker to struggle last season, however. Of the league’s nine kickers with at least 10 field goal attempts, only Mississippi Valley State’s Joseph Blanco, Alabama State’s Anthony Johnson and Alcorn’s Jeremy Shea converted more than 70 percent.

Only one SWAC kicker, Southern’s Breck Ashley, was perfect on all of his extra point attempts. Ashley was 27-for-27.

Howard said, given the chance, he thinks he’ll break the trend.

&#8220I should be able to. I was kicking about 80 percent, and I don’t miss a lot of field goals,” Howard said. &#8220I think I have a pretty good chance of changing that.”