The J-TAC

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Nathan Bural Lindholm's 64-yard kick landed Tarleton on a host of ESPN programs such as SportsCenter and College Game Day.

Media Credit: Nathan Bural This week's play-off game was very emotional as Texan hopes to make the next round with up-in-the-air until seconds were left on the clock.

The Texans dreams of making a run at the NCAA Division II national title game was in limbo with seconds left in Saturday's game. Senior kicker Garrett Lindholm lined up to kick the game-tying 64-yard field goal in front of approximately 13,000 fans in Kingsville, in hopes of sending the match into overtime.

"As soon as I kicked it I saw [the ball] move to the left with the wind. I didn't hear anyone block it. I was just glad to see it not hit the crossbar," Lindholm said.

The 64-yard kick put Lindholm in second-place in the record books for the longest field goal in NCAA Division II history. Lindholm said he kicked 61-yard field goals in warm-ups and said when the time came, he was good to kick from 65 yards. In the moments before the kick, Lindholm was only focused on putting the ball between the crossbars.

"[The kick] was either going to make or break my senior year," he said. "I kind of just focused on kicking the ball. It was just me, the ball, the snapper and the holder."

Over the season, Lindholm went 13 for 16 (82 percent) in field goal attempts and 43 for 45 in extra point attempts. So far, he has scored 82 points in the 2009 season, more than any other player on the team. Lindholm has been perfect throughout the year between 20 and 39 yards and has only missed three kick from 30 to 49 yards. Amazingly, the kicker from Pflugerville was perfect kicking from beyond 55 yards.

After the game, Lindholm and Tarleton (10-2) gained national notoriety as clips from the game were shown on different programs aired on ESPN. With such publicity, pro football for Lindholm is a definite possibility.

"All that's stuff's in God's hands," he said. "I can only do so much."

Scouts have attended Tarleton practices to watch Lindholm kick field goals, but are also paying attention to other prospects on the squad.

Although the kick played a large role in the Texans victory against TAMUK, for Lindholm the feeling of defeating a team Tarleton previously lost to was satisfying in its own right.

"The win really boosts our confidence after losing to this team earlier in the year," he said.

The Texans will face the number one seeded team in the region, the Central Washington Wildcats (11-0), Saturday, Nov. 21 in Ellensburg, Wa. to decide who will move on to the Quarterfinals of the 2009 Division II Football Championship. The winner of Saturday's match will face the victor of the game between Abilene Christian (9-3) and Northwest Missouri State (10-1).

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools