TREMONT - These are special times at Tremont High School. Just beyond the football field, a new athletic complex is under construction. If things go as scheduled, the Turks' current home turf will be a parking lot this time next season.

Yet, even if the field wasn't surrounded by large dirt-moving equipment, signaling a new era, the word "special" applies to this year's team.

Senior punter David Gray and junior kicker Luke Hansen give Tremont a huge advantage on special teams, with Gray's 45.1-yard average and Hansen's 6 of 8 field-goal accuracy helping keep the Turks in playoff contention.

"It really makes a difference," said Tremont coach Lou Wicks, whose 4-4 team needs a win over Fisher tonight to make the playoffs. "The Dee-Mack game (in week 7) was the first game we had more offense than our opponent.

"Most of our opponents have to drive 80 yards or more to score because of our punting and kicking and kickoffs. We tend to have a much shorter field."

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Gray has outdistanced opposing punters by nearly 20 yards per attempt.

His 40.4-yard average last year was second-best in the Pantagraph area. Still, Wicks said Gray was "frustrated," and wanted to improve.

Wicks encouraged him to seek out instructional and exposure camps, leading to a superb summer for Gray. He attended Kohl's punting/kicking camps at Iowa State (Ames, Iowa) and Whitewater, Wis.

"The Iowa State one taught me technique. The Whitewater one was a scholarship camp," Gray said.

He ranked third there among punters from across the country, opening the eyes of college recruiters. He has visited Michigan State, Illinois and Western Illinois and also drawn interest from Indiana.

He said Thursday his choices have narrowed to "Western Illinois and maybe Illinois."

It has been a rapid rise for a player who began to take punting seriously as a sophomore. He attended his first camp that year ? the Louie Aguiar Camp in Peoria.

"I wasn't expecting to go this far until last year," he said. "It (his improvement) is a combination of getting the leg strength up to get more yardage and a lot of technique.

"Last year I pretty much hit line drives. Now, they're starting to have hang time. My highest has been 5.1 (seconds)."

Gray had a 70-yard punt last week which Wicks said "was 60 yards in the air."

"It was just a boomer," Wicks said. "He has a wonderful average, but I don't think we've seen the best of his punting yet."

Gray's goal is to become more consistent and "relax."

"Sometimes I'll go back there and get pretty stressed out," he said. "I think people are expecting me to do well, so I have to do well. That gets to me sometimes."

The 5-8, 140-pound Hansen has benefited from his soccer roots. He played competitively in Morton youth soccer leagues until moving to Tremont for high school.

Suddenly, kicking a football took precedence for the left-footed Hansen, who has converted three field goals of 40-plus yards this year. The longest was a school-record 44-yarder, and one of his misses was from 46 yards. He also has kicked 23 extra-points.

"I went to a camp at Notre Dame (this summer)," Hansen said. "Last year, I didn't really know the technique of kicking. I just knew what I knew from playing soccer. I learned technique and the form that I should have. It helped a lot."

Wicks also has seen Hansen add leg strength through his commitment in the weight room.

"He just has the confidence he didn't have last year," Wicks said. "If it's a calm day, if we get to the 25 we think we can do some different things offensively because we know we can still line up for a field goal and have a good shot at scoring."