A high school football team in Southern California won its game on Thursday night with a walk-off free kick. That’s a real thing that happened and it was totally legal!
Chaparral High School, colloquially known as Chap, is a 3,000ish-student school in Temecula, California. The Pumas were down by one point with less than 20 seconds left in Thursday night’s game.
Their opponent was forced to punt from its own end zone. Chap would have exactly one play.
Most people watching the game would have expected the Pumas to either:
- Try to return the punt for six.
- Receive the punt, go down with time left on the clock, and a shot to the end zone.
Head coach Andrew Ramer had a different idea. He instructed his kick returner to call a fair catch.
A unique high school football rule gave Chap a third option.
The rule, which only applies to the high school and NFL levels, is called the ‘Fair Catch Kick.’
By rule, a team that made a fair catch is allowed to attempt a free kick from the spot of the fair catch on the next play. The free kick must be either a place or drop kick. If the free kick passes between the uprights of the opposing team’s field goal, three points are awarded to the team that made the kick.
The defense cannot rush the ball. The ball can be placed on a tee.
Had the punter angled the punt to land out of bounds, it would have prevented the free kick. That is not what happened.
In this particular instance, the Pumas made a fair catch at the 25-yard-line. Coach Ramer elected to attempt a free kick instead of trying a Hail Mary to the end zone.
The kick was good!
Chaparral was awarded three points as time expired and defeated Roosevelt 59-57 in walk-off fashion.
There are a lot of kudos to be had here.
First and foremost, credit to Ramer and the Chap coaching staff for knowing the rules and using them to ultimately win the game. Secondly, credit to the officiating crew for knowing how to administer the strange rule. Thirdly, credit to the kicker for nailing the 25-yarder as time expired!
The ending was weird and wild. It was a game that neither side will soon forget.