WACO, Texas — Now, that is one accurate placekicker.
A high school kicker converting an extra point not only split the uprights, he also sailed the football into the open window of a passing vehicle, where the passenger made a nice catch.
The kick occurred in Waco, Texas, on Sept. 18, during the Gordon Longhorns’ 58-8 victory against Live Oak Classical, Sports Illustrated reported.
After one of the Longhorns’ touchdowns, the team lined up for an extra point, and the kicker sent the football right into the passing SUV. Live Oak’s videographer, Migdalia Holgersson, captured the catch on video, KWTX-TV reported.
@SportsCenter #SCTop10 one in a million PAT kick. Car just happened to be driving by with their window down. @LOCSathletics pic.twitter.com/K16y6KwxFy
— Brice Helton (@BriceHelton22) September 16, 2023
“At first we weren’t sure what we saw,” Brice Helton, Live Oak Classical’s head football coach and athletic director, told KWTX. “It happened so quickly, and it was just so normal and natural. It wasn’t until the crowd started yelling that we really realized that ‘Hey that really did just happen. A flying ball in the middle of a football game just landed inside a car and the girl inside caught it.”
There was no net behind the goalposts, according to Sports Illustrated.
The ball was caught by Kennedy Irwin, 23, of Dallas, a recent graduate of Baylor University who was back in town and was on her way to dinner at George’s restaurant in Waco, according to the television station.
The Live Oak Field is located between 5th Street and 6th Street in downtown Waco.
Irwin was a front-seat passenger in the SUV and saw the football coming her way, KWTX reported.
“I saw from a distance them lining up for the field goal,” Irwin told the television station. “We had windows down, listening to music, just what we did in college. I thought, ‘This would be so funny if we were able to catch the field goal.
“The ball was kicked and I saw it coming and I was like ‘Oh wait, it’s actually coming right to us.”
Irwin, who was once the intramural chair for her sorority at Baylor, made a nifty catch as the SUV zipped by the field.
“We caught it, and everybody was like ‘Wait what just happened,” Irwin told KWTX. “We were still just driving, and we were like ‘Hey we need to stop and give the ball back. We threw it back to a kid running down the street.”
The video of the event went viral, but several people wondered if the play was staged. Irwin said that was impossible.
“It was very unplanned,” Irwin told KWTX. “It was a perfect kick, and we couldn’t even do it if we tried!”
As for Live Oak (2-3) the Falcons bounced back the following week with a 52-42 victory against Lometa.