Hampton product making history for Duquesne football

Michael Berarducci’s first collegiate punt traveled 59 yards, and the memory will carry on much further.

The Duquesne freshman from Hampton made his unforgettable debut at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in front of nearly 36,000 fans, including his mom and dad.

“Punting in TCU’s stadium, a packed stadium, first game of the year, first punt for me as a freshman. It was electric,” he said. “I was pumped up. I knew kind of where my parents were sitting, so I looked at them and pointed to them. Everyone was giving me high-fives. It was a very surreal moment.”

Berarducci’s Sept. 4 punt was the longest by a Duquesne player in five years.

Not bad for someone who started punting in the Hampton youth league and spent many days kicking to his mom at an empty Fridley Field.

Berarducci, who graduated from St. Augustine (Fla.) after playing at Hampton through his junior season, averaged 48 yards on three punts while splitting time in a 45-3 loss at the Big 12 school.

Berarducci is averaging 45 yards on 10 punts through five games for the Dukes (4-1, 2-0), who visit Sacred Heart (3-3, 1-1) on Oct. 23. Berarducci would rank 12th in the nation among FCS punters, but he doesn’t have enough attempts to qualify as the Dukes rotated punters in the early season to audition for the position.

“He works very hard,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said. “He obviously has great leg strength, but he’s continued to work on the mechanics and operation.”

Berarducci posted another memorable punt one week later in one of the most significant victories in Duquesne football history. His 49-yard boot against Ohio to the Bobcats’ 1-yard line helped set up a Duquesne safety on the following play. The Dukes went on to win 28-26, their first victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent in five tries since joining the FCS in 1993. Duquesne also became the first NEC school to beat an FBS team in the conference’s 25 all-time tries.

Berarducci’s punt, pinning down host Ohio, came after a high snap nearly sailed over his head. He barely got off the punt, and the Dukes downed the ball in the shadow of the goal-line.

“It was a very high snap. I just wanted to catch it, and I almost didn’t,” Berarducci said. “I ran out and got it off in time, right before it got blocked, and with my luck it rolled right to the 1-yard line and the next play we got a safety.

“It was a great special teams play.”

Regardless of his spot in the depth chart, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Berarducci gets the most out of his relatively undersized punter’s frame.

“He’s not tall, but he has very strong legs,” Schmitt said. “The other thing is why I was intrigued and recruited him was his flexibility is really good, when you see him punt the ball and get his leg in the air.”

Berarducci left Hampton after his junior year to attend high school at St. Augustine, about 40 miles south of Jacksonville. His parents owned a rental property in the area, and Berarducci decided to transfer amid the covid restrictions.

“Hampton looked like it was going to be online during the covid year,” he said. “I didn’t do well in online school. I need to be in-person.”

While his father, Michael, remained in Pittsburgh for work, Berarducci and his mom, Patricia, moved down south, where he attended in-school classes five days a week, earned the starting punting job at the Class 6A school and played in the state semifinals.

Berarducci connected with Duquesne assistant coach Anthony Doria and after sending video and visiting the campus, he committed to the Dukes.

“I loved the school, and I decided this was where I wanted to be,” he said after Sept. 21 practice at Rooney Field.

Berarducci’s passion began at an early age when a youth coach saw him punting and suggested he punt for the team.

Berarducci has attended kicking camp every year since seventh grade and owes gratitude to his mom, who would take him to Hampton’s Fridley Field once a week and chase down his booming kicks.

“My mom was a big supporter of me,” Berarducci said. “She said, ‘We’re going to do this.’ Even if the weather was bad, she would drive me to Fridley Field and she would be out there in whatever she was wearing, jeans or whatever, and she would be giving her best effort to catch my punts.”