Just for kicks
By BRAD KEITH
Sports Editor
Game-winning field goals of 50 yards or longer are rare even in the NFL.
In NCAA Division II, they are almost unheard of.
Garrett Lindholm is not your typical D2 kicker.
That’s why Tarleton State head coach Sam McElroy never hesitated to send his senior kicker into a game the No. 15 Texans needed badly to win with the score deadlocked at 28 and three seconds on the clock.
“We knew we were going to kick the field goal. There was no question,” McElroy said. “He kicks those all the time in practice. What makes it so much different is handling the pressure of trying to win a big game, but that’s what makes Garrett so special. As soon as I saw the trajectory of it and knew it was headed between the pipes there wasn’t any doubt he made it.”
Lindholm nailed the kick right through the very top of the Tarleton Memorial Stadium uprights, shocking the almost 5,000 fans in attendance and lifting Tarleton to a 31-28 win against No. 18 Midwestern State.
But, like his coach, Lindholm wasn’t shocked at all.
“I was already warm because I had just kicked off after the 36-yard field goal (which tied the game). Right when (the 55-yarder) cleared the line and I knew it wasn’t going to get blocked I knew I made it,” Lindholm said. “It felt like a kickoff. I just hit it as hard as I could.”
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