The Winning Kick

I heard the faint high pitched beeping of my alarm clock as I opened my sleep covered eyes. I attempted to roll out from under my covers but immediately retreated as I felt the chilly spring air touch my skin. While I was mustering up the motivation to get out of bed, I glanced at my alarm clock. “11:00 AM” it read in boxy, glowing numbers. Had I really slept in that long? I finally rose from my bed, traveling down the stairs to make myself some breakfast. “Hi, girl!” I greeted my dog where she was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I smiled to myself as I turned on some music, opened the fridge to retrieve some eggs, and turned on the stove. It felt like a fine Saturday morning until I remembered that I had a lacrosse game later

Unlike all other game days, this one is very special. We take on UC San Diego in hopes of securing a playoff spot. My emotions have been running all over the place, and no it’s not because I am a young adult trying to get through college. I have been playing soccer for 15 years already so it is safe to say that soccer is my life. All I do is constantly train to get better and improve as much as I can and today is my chance to showcase my talent at the highest level I’ve played at so far. It’s my second year at SFSU and my second year playing soccer here and with 20 games already recorded for me at the school, I should be coming into the game with a cool head but I am far from it.

Walking out onto the opponent’s brightly lit turf field setting up for the kickoff of the second half just gave me the feeling that everybody knows, my hair starts to stand up, butterflies began to flutter in my stomach, and everything seems to slow down. Looking into the stands and seeing that our hometown fans had traveled four hours in order to outdo the home crowd gave me a sense of comfort. Looking into East Jefferson’s stands and seeing that our fans, despite having to travel all the way down south, outnumbered their fans by at least 70 people. I found myself thinking that this meant just as much to our town as it did to our school and team. This feeling would be just the motivation we needed in order to finish this game

We had the six point lead with only three minutes left, and we were confident that our defense would hold them as we had all day. The first play of the drive resulted in a long touchdown from none other than the running back. They decided to go for the one extra point to take the lead, and they converted with ease. We were tired and worn out, and we failed to score again. I was aggravated.

Today is the first football game in my high school career. I am beyond excited so the school day goes by very fast. I then go into the locker room where I meet many of my teammates who are very excited. They all are saying, “ What day is it?! Gameday!” Today we play the De La Salle Spartans who are a respected program in the football community. It is now time for warm ups and me being the punter of my team I go out early for warm ups. I then warm up my leg and after I do that, the team comes out and I join them for warm ups. Finally, it is game time, the moment I have been waiting for all summer. Our team wins the toss so as the starting tight end for my team I go out with the offense for our first drive. We end up going three and out so I have to

Focus on giving a perfect effort on every single snap. Focus on your job! When you’re tired and feel like you can’t give a perfect effort, look at that guy next to you, think about how tired he is. Tell him to keep going and he’ll tell you the same and you can play for that guy next to you who’s just as tired as you. Think about what’s driving you, think about that dream of winning a district championship and playing in the dome. Think about how for some of you this is your last season. How do you want to remember it? Do you want to look back on it and say ‘man, i wish i would’ve given my best effort on that play’, or do you want to look back and be proud of yourself and the effort you put forward every single

We get off to a rough start in the third quarter and give Germantown an undeserved 6 point lead. We then come back to take the lead, but Germantown makes a three to quickly destroy our hopes of getting another lead, but Tyler still makes a three and ties the game up which encourages me and the rest of my team. After that the buzzer sounds and ends the third quarter. When the fourth quarter we come out knowing that this is our game for the taking, and so we get of to a great start and take a 4 point lead. Germantown quickly evens the score out, but again we take the

The kicker on a football team has a very difficult and critical job during a football game for his team. When the team needs points on the scoreboard or an extra point after a touchdown, it is the kicker’s job to make that happen. Kicking may not seem like a tuff or important job, but good kickers are highly sought after. For a kicker to be able to make the kick when he is most needed, there are three steps that he must remember and execute the kick correctly. The kicker must have a good approach to the ball, have a strong and steady swing, and have a good follow through.

Kickers have traditionally been known to be either the hero or the villain. A kick splitting the uprights means victory and triumph for the kicker, while a wide left leaves misery for the kicker as well for its teammates. Being a kicker takes more than just having the skill. it requires mental toughness. That is why it is very common to hear collegiate/amateur kickers to miss field goals that usually result in terrible outcomes.

Not on the outside, but on the inside. Now, I was determined that I wanted to win, no matter what the pain was. After all, no pain, no gain! I went back on the field and went off. I caught every single ball that was even thrown even in my direction, and later I found out that if I could get two fingers on the ball, it was as good as caught. The coach kept me in the rest of the game, and I realized that I was in the zone. I didn’t hear any of the trash-talking the other players did, I didn’t hear the fans, I didn’t even twist and turn and juke out the defenders, my body did for me automatically. I didn’t feel any of the pain, I did not realize that I scored so many touchdowns, I was pure adrenaline. Before I knew it, the score was 49-56 Montgomery, the fourth quarter, there were only 50 seconds left on the clock, we were at our own 20-yard line, and we had no timeouts remaining at all. This was the real test, to see if we deserved to be the champions. One touchdown, 6 points would reduce the loss by one, and the extra point would tie the game. But, if we went for the two-point conversion, then the game would be over, one way or

Boise State's ball first and ten Cozark snaps the ball pass incomplete, now it is second down and ten Cozark passes the ball and first down Boise State. Cozark hands it off and Hercules Mata’afa gets a tackle for loss. Second down and ten i'm watching Boise State on offence and us on defence hoping boise state does not get a touchdown. Then we get the ball back after a stop. First down incomplete, second down incomplete,third down incomplete. When we punt Kyle Sweet kicks it off and the ball flying in the air I am getting blocked and the player that was getting blocked by got hit by the ball and the cougs get the ball back with not very much time left. Then tyler hilinski hikes it, incomplete, second down he throws the ball deep to the endzone for the freshman jamire calvin and he catches it for a touchdown cougars with one minute left martin stadium goes electric. Boise state just knees the ball until overtime. I win the toss again and win and select to defer. Boise state first play run up the middle, second down incomplete, third down pass complete for six yards. Boise State kicks the field goal and its good, thirty four to thirty in OT. Our first offense possession we need a field goal to tie touchdown to win. We end up going

I wake up to the alarm clock blaring loudly in my ear. Next, I rise slowly

My heart pounding in my chest, my hands shaking, as goose bumps devour my body. I get the ball and I fall to the ground, landing flat on my back as I try to pass the ball to another person. I hear roars of laughter as I see my leg straight in the air and the ball on the ground next to me. I look over at the Coach as he frowns at me and looks away. I start to roll off the field. I hear the siren as I start to limp home with my hand on my back. I try to run the rest of the way, but my leg won't budge so I limped.

"Fweeeet-woooo", the sound of the whistle letting us know the game is about to begin. A little apprehensive isn't the word that describes this moment. "Yanna your at mid", Coach Russuem says in the background distracting from my daze; my first game ever playing soccer and I'm in the starting 9. As I walk on the field I get this rush of fearful thoughts, "What if I miss the ball? what if I don't be aggressive enough? Am I ready? Should I sit this one out? Should I tell coach I'm sick? Should I.....", I notice I have this tremble as I walk and I start to tell my self I can do this! After encouraging myself and putting my head in the game I looked at the score board realizing we're in the lead 3-2. Now the second half is about to cease, thus for,

The game is delayed, the team and I ate so much popcorn we were almost full. We did our warm-ups and readied ourselves to do the best we can. First kick-off, our ball. The offense drives down, our quarterback runs down the field and scores, our sidelines are wild, everyone is ready to win. The offense did not get the extra point, but we still had confidence. Our defense is then on the field. Their offense drives down and scores, does not get the extra point, game is tied. We still have time for a win, it is just the second quarter. Nothing big happens in the end of the second quarter. Start of the third, they get the ball on kick-off. They drive down and score, they do not get the extra point, 12 to 6 at the start of the third. We get the ball, drive down and score, miss the extra point, 12 to 12. We do not give up, we tried even harder when we got the higher score to tie. They get the ball, when they get so close to the end zone, they bring out a tiny running back, I