Off the top of his head, San Diego Strike Force kicker Ernesto Lacayo isn’t exactly sure how many points he has accumulated over 15 seasons of professional indoor football spread across multiple leagues.
But he knows exactly how long he wants his career to last.
Seventeen seasons.
That’s the number Lacayo is chasing. Reaching that mark would surpass the professional indoor football longevity record currently held by kicker Mark Lewis, the sport’s all-time leading scorer, who played 16 seasons.
Lacayo knows Lewis’ career scoring record is likely out of reach — he estimates Lewis has at least 500 more points — but longevity remains a milestone within reach and one that would secure his own place in indoor football history.
“Mark Lewis is one of our all-time great arena kickers. Now that I’ve gotten close to it, and I’m here, my goal is to break the record. By getting to year 17, I think that will probably be the end for me,” Lacayo told The Coast News. “I’ve always said I want to be respectful to my wife and everyone who has supported me throughout my career. But everyone keeps telling me, ‘At this point, go break it. Go break the record. Do what you need to do.’”
“I already have many records, but the one I can really hold my hat on is the fact that I can break Mark Lewis’ career record — not the points record, because what he’s done is amazing and he is always the pedestal I have aimed at.”
While Lacayo continues chasing his own piece of history, he is also helping lead the Strike Force toward a championship opportunity.
On Saturday evening at Frontwave Arena, in front of nearly 4,000 fans, San Diego clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a dominant 70-30 victory over the New Mexico Chupacabras. The win moved the Strike Force to 12-3 on the season and marked the first time in franchise history San Diego earned the top seed in the West.
Lacayo contributed 14 points in the victory.
“Ernesto has kind of a boring job sometimes because we go for it on fourth down more than any team in the league,” Strike Force head coach Taylor Genuser said. “He’s taken a lot of pride in making his PATs and being effective on kickoffs. He’s a veteran presence for us and does a great job helping the other special teams units. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
This season, Lacayo has accounted for 113 points, converting 5 of 11 field-goal attempts and 82 of 95 extra-point tries.
Lacayo, 37, returned to the Strike Force after helping send the team to the Western Conference championship game in 2025, delivering the game-winning extra point in a back-and-forth playoff victory over the Arizona Rattlers.
It marked another chapter in his relationship with the franchise. Lacayo also played for San Diego in 2019 and has spent several offseasons training in Carlsbad with former NFL kicker John Carney.
“For me, if I’m ever blessed and grateful enough to make it to the Hall of Fame, I would like to be able to finish with San Diego because it’s the team I’ve played with the most in my career. This is my third year with them,” Lacayo said. “When you go into a Hall of Fame, you always want to attach one team to your name, and I would love to attach the San Diego Strike Force to mine.”
“But as we learn in sports, you never know what every year is going to bring. My goal is to finish out here, and along the way, these last two years, especially heading into my final season, I’d like to groom somebody who can take the next step and continue what I started here.”
Lacayo, a 5-foot-8 kicker out of Hastings College, an NAIA program in Nebraska, has never fit the traditional mold of the prototypical kicker. He has instead built his professional career through consistency and reliability.
He also credited Strike Force veteran quarterback Nate Davis as one of the best holders he has worked with during his career.
“I know they want to get rid of him as a holder, but he’s really good at what he does,” Lacayo said. “He’s one of the top three holders I’ve ever had. He’s very meticulous in what he does. You can just tell from his body of work.
“But it’s also my job, just in case he does go down or we don’t want to risk him, to get some of these guys an opportunity to learn how to hold and get comfortable with it. I always tell these young guys, the more you can do in the special teams aspect, the better chance you have of moving up to the higher levels.”
For Lacayo, longevity has come through preparation.
“I’ve always been very consistent in the weight room and with my recovery. I’m actually stronger and striking the ball better than I was earlier in my career,” Lacayo said. “I was 170 pounds when I started playing professionally, but over the years I wanted to add more muscle mass and more weight behind the ball. I noticed I became less injury-prone as I got bigger and stronger.”
The Strike Force will close the regular season against the Tucson Sugar Skulls on Friday, July 24, at Frontwave Arena before hosting Tucson again in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, Aug. 2.
