At Les Schwab Bowl, Sheldon’s Rocco Graziano can focus on what he does best — kick footballs

The Irish senior-to-be is one of the top kickers and punters in Oregon, but for his high school team, he’s also a key contributor on offense and defense

Rocco Graziano of Sheldon / Photo by Dan Brood

Rocco Graziano will be handling all the kicking duties for Team Columbia during Friday night’s Les Schwab Bowl.

There’s nothing unusual about that for the Sheldon senior-to-be.

That’s all he’s going to be doing, however.

And for Graziano, that is unusual.

In addition to being one of the top kickers in the state, Graziano also plays receiver and linebacker for the Irish, and he helped Sheldon reach the Class 6A state playoffs last fall.

“It’s kind of weird not being in receiver or linebacker drills, but I’m coming off a bit of a groin injury, so I think it’s best to just kick this week and not risk anything leading up to the season,” Graziano said during a Team Columbia practice session Monday at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, the site of Friday’s game.

“There’s no need for me to do anything else with the type of athletes we have out here. I just want to put points up on the board.”

Rocco Graziano of Sheldon / Photo by Dan Brood

He’s hoping to do plenty of that during Friday’s Les Schwab Bowl, a high school all-star football game featuring many of the top players from around the state.

“It feels pretty nice,” Graziano said of being picked to play in the contest. “Only a select group get to play in this game, so being one of them feels pretty good.”

Graziano is coming off a junior season at Sheldon in which he earned second-team Class 6A all-state accolades as a kicker and punter — all while getting action on offense and defense.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Graziano is looking forward to, at least for one game, handling only the kicking duties.

“During the season, you play a defensive possession, and then offense, and then you have to kick, it’s not easy,” he said. “Maybe you get hit in the ribs or something, so it’s going to be nice coming off the sidelines feeling good.”

In addition to being busy during the football season, Graziano is a top outside shooting threat for the Sheldon boys basketball team.

“It’s just consistently competing throughout the year,” Graziano said of playing basketball. “It benefits me in the long run.”

Speaking of the long run, Graziano said his future, when it comes to competing at the collegiate level, likely will be as a kicker.

“I think so, yeah. I’m talking to some big schools right now — Oregon, Washington State and Boise State, those are the three big ones. I’m just kind of waiting, waiting patiently, and I know my time is coming,” he said. “I’ve been going to a lot of camps. I was in Pullman (Wash.) two days ago; I’ve done Oregon. That’s why I’m a little sore. I’m going to take it easy this week so I’m ready to go by Friday.”

Rocco Graziano of Sheldon / Photo by Dan Brood

That’s a bright future, especially for someone who became a football kicker in a bit of a roundabout way.

“I used to play soccer as a kid. Going into my sophomore year at Sheldon, we were really good,” Graziano said. “We played in the state championship a couple of years ago.”

So, with a stacked soccer roster, the talented athlete decided to give football a try.

“I then trained the whole offseason, trying to be a linebacker,” Graziano said. “We already had a kicker who played soccer. Well, the kicker blew out his knee, and the other guy quit. I wasn’t going to kick at all, but Coach knew I played soccer. I hit one kick and he said, ‘Yeah, you’re hired.’ It kind of just took off from there.”

Did he fall in love with kicking right away?

“Yes and no,” Graziano said. “I’m a good athlete, and I feel like I’m just an athlete who kicks. I don’t like to say I’m a kicker because I play receiver and linebacker. I think I’m a really good kicker, and being an athlete helps with that.”

And on Friday, Graziano will be hoping to help Team Columbia come out on top in its battle with Team Willamette. In fact, he wouldn’t mind if the contest comes down to a last-second field goal attempt.

“I hope so,” Graziano said with a smile. “I don’t think it will because we’re that good. But if it does, I’m ready for it.”

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Proceeds from this year’s Les Schwab Bowl, presented by Express Employment Professionals, will benefit the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association general scholarship fund, the Brayden Bafaro Scholarship Fund and various youth charities.

This is the 76th game in the series, but just the third that won’t be North vs. South. Instead, players were drafted by the Team Columbia coaching staff, with head coach Steve Pyne, who led Central Catholic to the 2023 Class 6A state title, and by the Team Willamette coaching staff, with head coach Adam Guenther, who guided Wilsonville to the Class 5A state crown.

In last year’s game, the second under this format, Team Columbia posted a 42-13 win over Team Willamette, giving Team Columbia a 2-0 lead in the brief series under the current format.

Gates will open at 4 p.m. Saturday, with food carts and a beer/wine garden on site. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Tickets for the game, starting at $15, can be purchased online at lesschwabbowl.com/tickets.

— Dan Brood