New London — One of Cole Austin's math teachers at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, was Chris Boniol, former kicker for the Dallas Cowboys and Super Bowl champion.

"He would take us out to the field for math lessons and kick 60-yarders," Austin said. "I don't remember what the math lesson was, I just knew, 'I want to do that.'"

Austin, a senior, is now the kicker for the Coast Guard Academy football team — also a mechanical engineering major, so maybe the math came in handy after all — and earlier this week was named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight time.

Austin kicked three field goals in Saturday's 38-35 conference victory over rival Norwich on Parents' Weekend, getting field goal attempts on each of the Bears' first four series. He uncharacteristically missed the first from 23 yards, but made each of the next three from 21, 33 and 39 yards to give Coast Guard its first lead at 9-7.

He also made a game-saving tackle, combining with fellow Texan Adam Barnes, a freshman, as time expired with Norwich kick returner Manni Romero nearly escaping down the right sideline.

Obviously, the miss bugged him the most. He handled the tackle in stride.

"It wasn't even that I mishit it," Austin said of his first field goal attempt. "I kicked it. It felt great but went wide. I was obviously upset. I went back and hit a couple (off the tee) right into the net. It was more me taking my frustration out than anything. The second one, I wasn't thinking about the miss at all. You're just trying to do your thing. If you think about it, that would probably mess up everything."

Austin is 8-for-9 in field goal tries this year to lead the NEWMAC and 10-for-11 on extra points. Head coach Bill George has referred to Austin as a "professional" in terms of his preparation.

This is also the first season that Austin has truly been at full strength since his arrival at Coast Guard. First, the academy's rigorous Swab Summer program for incoming freshmen sapped his leg strength. 

"Terrible," the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Austin said. "I couldn't kick a ball. I remember Blake Bonifas (Coast Guard Class of 2016) ... I shanked one so bad that he was standing off to the side with the trainers and I hit him in the back of the head."

Then, prior to his sophomore season, Austin suffered a small labral tear, creating an impingement in his hip. For two seasons it affected him. At times last year he couldn't practice, but still finished 18-for-21 on extra points and 8-for-9 on field goals.

The thing that finally healed his hip was rest. Completely against his instinct to kick and kick some more, Austin took the summer off, not returning to the field until the week before the 2018 season started. By his first practice, he already felt better than he had his entire collegiate career. In practice with a kicker and a holder, Austin can hit from about 50 yards, he said. Kicking off a stand, he's connected from 60.

Austin, speaking at Wednesday's weekly Coast Guard football luncheon, even generated questions about himself from offensive coordinator Ray LaForte, who was filling in for George while George attended the Gold Helmet luncheon with wide receiver Justin Moffatt in Cambridge, Mass.

The Bears (3-1, 1-0) play a NEWMAC game Saturday at Catholic in Washington, D.C. (1 p.m.)

"It's really nice to be able to complete a drive where you fall a little short but you come up with something," Coast Guard quarterback Ryan Jones said of the confidence Austin inspires.

"I'll still get nervous. But I'm just looking at the goal post. Looking at the kick," said Austin, who added that he didn't have too much of an adjustment coming back after the summer off. "Surprisingly, no. Having done it since middle school, I took it in stride. It felt great to start kicking again."

v.fulkerson@theday.com