Football is a sport that brings everyone together. During a recent highschool game, that was never more evident than when a field goal led to a passerby catching a bit of football fever. As the football soared through the goal posts, it landed in the hands of the most unexpected of “players” – a front-seat passenger in a car that just happened to be passing by at the same time as the kicker lined up to try and score an extra point.
The game was between Live Oak Classical School and Gordon High School in Waco, Texas. As Gordon’s kicker lined up, Kennedy Irwin, a recent college grad, was in a car riding past the football field. “I saw from a distance them lining up for the field goal,” Irwin said. “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.”
Stunned, Irwin caught the football as it came in through her window. Everyone in the car was stunned.
Kennedy Irwin with her now-viral catch. Image from Live Oak’s video
“We caught it, and everybody was like ‘wait what just happened,” Irwin laughed. “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.” Live Oak’s head football coach, Brice Helton, said that everyone on the field and in the stands were also amazed.
“At first we weren’t sure what we saw,” Helton said. “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.”
Unbeknownst to Irwin, Live Oak’s videographer Migdalia Holgersson caught it all on video. At midnight, Irwin learned that her once-in-a-lifetime catch was going viral. “We ran into some of our friends that are still at Baylor, and we told them the story and they said it got posted on SportsCenter,” Irwin said.
With more than 7 million views, some people began wondering if the miracle catch was staged. Irwin said there was no way that could have happened, even if they had tried.
— Live Oak Classical Athletics (@LOCSathletics) September 19, 2023
“It was very unplanned,” Irwin laughed.
It was a perfect kick, and we couldn’t even do it if we tried!”
The field faces a busy street and doesn’t have any nets to catch the ball. Live Oak said there were issues with the electrical lines above and a buried natural gas line below. They said they are working to add the net as soon as possible. I guess everything really is bigger in Texas – including football catches! Watch the amazing catch below.
