Rare free kick leads to huge, last-minute win in Miami

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The video and story: http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/...huge-last-minute-win-in?urn=highschool-wp7579

There are plenty of ways to win a game in the final minute, but none may be rarer than the one employed by Miami (Fla.) Belen Jesuit Prep on Friday. Trailing traditional powerhouse Miami (Fla.) Northwestern High 28-27 with less than 30 seconds remaining, Belen fielded a punt at the Northwestern 39-yard line.
hat's when things got interesting. According to the Miami Herald, rather than take a few shots down the field, Belen coach Rich Stuart made one of the rarest calls in all of football: He had his team attempt a free kick.
"It's unusual, but it is completely legal," Greater Miami Athletic Conference head of football officials Joe Underwood told the Herald. "It is a free kick that can be taken following a fair catch, and it doesn't matter if it is off a kicking tee or not."
Hardly ever used outside of high school football (you can see former Arizona Cardinals turned Houston Texans kicker Neil Rackers attempt a free kick -- and miss horribly -- in an NFL game here), a free kick allows a team to attempt a field goal off a tee or held by a holder, just like a kickoff, after it fair catches a punt. Only the opposing team can return a miss (since a block is made impossible) and the opposing team must stand a full 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage. The kick is worth three points, just as any other field goal is.
For Belen's kick, the placing at the 39-yard line made the free kick a 49-yard attempt by placekicker Sergio Sroka, who had missed a potential go-ahead field goal just moments before.
This time Sroka drilled the kick, giving the Wolverines an unlikely 30-28 lead, an edge which was padded by an interception return for a touchdown by Michael Ugarte to complete the 36-28 final score.
You can see video of Sroka's kick directly below.
(Video is on the link. I don't know how to upload video on a thread.)

If you haven't heard about the free kick rule before, don't worry, you're hardly alone. In fact, even Sroka himself didn't know about the rule until he lined up to try the game-winning kick.
According to Stuart, the program was only made aware of its ability to try a free kick by Julio Fortay, a math teacher at the school who is a retired official and once served as the head of GMAC football officials.
The unlikely kick capped an even more unlikely rally for the Wolverines, who trailed a powerful Northwestern squad 28-7. Perhaps more notably, the upset has set the stage for a huge heated rivalry contest in the coming week, with 5-2 Northwestern needing a win against undefeated Miami (Fla.) Central High just to qualify for the state playoffs.
Of course, that just makes Belen's win all the more important.
"When we got into this district we knew it would be tough," Stuart told the Herald. "Our kids have beaten good teams in the past, so they were battle-tested and ready."
The Wolverines were battle-tested, ready and, as it turns out, they had a heck of an ace up their sleeves which Stuart pulled out at precisely the right time.
 


We lost a game to a free kick in high school. Game was tied 14-14 with about 20 seconds left. Nobody knew what was going on. I don't think the officials even knew. It seriously took a good 7-8 minutes just to get everything figured out. Worst way to lose a game ever!
 

Surprised we don't see it at the end of halfs in the NFL. With some of the legs on these kickers, I'd imagine a fair catch at the 50 yard line with seconds left in the half would give guys like Crosby and Seabass a 50/50 shot of adding 3 points. Of course, you have to be in that situation to begin with, but heck, worth a shot if you're within 60 yards.
 



The team that lost plays Miami Central next and is out of the playoffs for the first time in 20 yrs with a loss. Central is favored to win and then plays Belen for the district championship in two weeks.
 

At first I thought this would be referring to a drop kick win, but that prompts me to ask: drop kicks for field goals are still legal at any time, correct?
 

Hey, I have known for years that this rule existed. Just ask Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers way back when.
 

Drop kicks are perfectly legal, the only reason they aren't done anymore is the way the ball bounces. The ball used to be more rounded, and would bounce more predictably. When it was changed to its current shape, it was easier to pass, but bounces unpredictably. It scores the same as a standard field goal, so the field goal is just more practical.

There have been a couple times in recent decades where a drop kick has been attempted, but it was just for the sake of novelty, just to say it was tried. There aren't too many situations where a drop kick could be the practical choice, maybe desperation, such as a bad snap on a field goal.
 




If I am remembering correctly, I believe Lohmiller's 63-yard field goal against Iowa was a free kick (thanks to Fry taking time-outs for us).
 

GophersInIowa said:
We lost a game to a free kick in high school. Game was tied 14-14 with about 20 seconds left. Nobody knew what was going on. I don't think the officials even knew. It seriously took a good 7-8 minutes just to get everything figured out. Worst way to lose a game ever!
Click to expand...

On a legal play that didn't involve an interception, fumble, hail mary, or multiple laterals?

No different than a regular field goal.
 

As it turns out, it seems a number of people care, so no, it's not getting deleted.
 



Interesting post. In the really old days, most backs could drop kick as well as pass. What we call the halfback pass was routine, with the fullback passing, too. I'd love to see some of that today, and a drop kick field goal off a run/pass play would make the Internet buzz!
 

The old idea of the "triple threat" player was one who could run, pass or kick. You didn't know what he was going to do, he might run with it, might pass, might drop kick or might punt. We tend to think of a QB as a player who just hands off or passes, and we tend to think of a running back as a player who just runs the ball or catches it, but they used to be less distinct roles.
 


highwayman said:
On a legal play that didn't involve an interception, fumble, hail mary, or multiple laterals?

No different than a regular field goal.
Click to expand...

You obviously missed the point I was trying to make. Yes I know it's perfectly legal. Everyone knows about those things you mentioned. We were thinking all we had to do was stop them for a play or two and we'd be going to overtime. Then that happened. It was one of those "what the hell just happened" kind of moments. Hardly anyone knew what was going on.
 


RodentRampage said:
Drop kicks are perfectly legal, the only reason they aren't done anymore is the way the ball bounces. The ball used to be more rounded, and would bounce more predictably. When it was changed to its current shape, it was easier to pass, but bounces unpredictably. It scores the same as a standard field goal, so the field goal is just more practical.

There have been a couple times in recent decades where a drop kick has been attempted, but it was just for the sake of novelty, just to say it was tried. There aren't too many situations where a drop kick could be the practical choice, maybe desperation, such as a bad snap on a field goal.
Click to expand...

See next post
 

RodentRampage said:
Drop kicks are perfectly legal, the only reason they aren't done anymore is the way the ball bounces. The ball used to be more rounded, and would bounce more predictably. When it was changed to its current shape, it was easier to pass, but bounces unpredictably. It scores the same as a standard field goal, so the field goal is just more practical.

There have been a couple times in recent decades where a drop kick has been attempted, but it was just for the sake of novelty, just to say it was tried. There aren't too many situations where a drop kick could be the practical choice, maybe desperation, such as a bad snap on a field goal.
Click to expand...

Doug Flutie drop kicked a PAT on January 1, 2006 for the Patriots. It was his last play in the NFL
 

In the Arena League, a drop-kicked FG is worth 4 points. Might be tempting if you're down by four, but still, the odds of scoring a TD seem better than the odds of making a drop kick.
 

I grew up in Denver and can remember two occasions early in his career where John Elway punted on 3rd down. It REALLY caught the defense off guard and the Broncos were able to take a difficult 3rd and forever situation and turn it into an opportunity with the other team pinned inside the 5 yard line.

I love this kind of stuff. I wish we'd see more unexpected plays in college football - like Boise State's holder flipping the ball over his shoulder to a flanker or the flea-flicker (did Michigan State run the flea flicker against Wisconsin?).

edit: I just looked it up and Elway punted 7 times in his career.
 


Go Gophers Rah said:
I grew up in Denver and can remember two occasions early in his career where John Elway punted on 3rd down. It REALLY caught the defense off guard and the Broncos were able to take a difficult 3rd and forever situation and turn it into an opportunity with the other team pinned inside the 5 yard line.
Click to expand...

I remember watching Elway punt a few on 3rd down, also. In 1989, Randall Cunningham had like an 80 or 90 yard punt by the time it stopped rolling at the Meadowlands.
 

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