Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
When coaching football at a small school, it sometimes takes a little creativity to fill on the spots on the field.
For the Hopkins Vikings and coach Cody Francis, that meant taking a look at players on other varsity teams for help, male or female.
This fall, the Vikings have received some help from a player who is a standout on both the girls basketball and soccer teams. The Viking coaching staff recruited standout point guard and soccer player Keara Kilbane to help out with the kicking duties, and the talented senior has proven to be everything the team needed in a kicker.
“The coaching staff actually recruited her to be part of the program,” Francis said. “My offensive coordinator went to a few of her soccer games last spring and was really impressed with how she kicked the ball. He talked to her to see if she would be interested in kicking for us.”
At first, Kilbane did not think that the coaches were serious.
“I thought they were joking at first, and I laughed about it,” Kilbane said. “Coach Noble had watched me play basketball and soccer, and he asked if I would come to a little tryout. I went to the tryout and kicked the football for about 10 minutes. It was not much different than kicking a soccer ball, and I found out that I could do it. The coaches then came in and talked to my parents, and I decided to try it.”
Kilbane handles kickoffs, field goals, and extra points for the Vikings and has proven to be solid in all three areas.
“She can really kick that ball,” Francis said. “Her average kickoff is down to the 10- or 15-yard line every time. She also positions her kickoffs like no other kicker I’ve seen. She can put it right at the yard line on the field where we want it. She has made all but two of her extra points this year. In our game against Allendale, she tried a 46-yard field goal that literally went just under the cross bar, and she has had two field goals from 36 yards that hit the cross bar.”
Kilbane has also enjoyed her initial experience playing football.
“It has been one of the best experiences of my life,” Kilbane said. “The coaches are so supportive, and the guys on the team are my biggest fans. It’s just been a great experience.”
The experience has been made even better by the Vikings qualifying for the state playoffs.
“I’m real excited about the playoffs, and the guys are excited too,” Kilbane said. “It is really exciting.”
When football season comes to an end, Kilbane will turn her attention to her final season of basketball as a point guard on the Vikings team. In the spring, she will take her spot as an offensive center midfielder for the Viking soccer team. An all-conference soccer player since her freshman season, Kilbane earned second-team, all-state honors last spring.
Kilbane is being recruited by a number of Division 1 and 3 colleges to play soccer. She plans to major in pre-med or biology, with a goal of eventually becoming a doctor and is leaning toward playing soccer at the Division 3 level at a school that will be suited to her academic focus.