Luis Duran hadn’t kicked a football until about a month ago, but he’s a quick learner.
The senior booted a 20-yard field goal in overtime to lift Corliss past host Perspectives 3-0 on Saturday.
“I tried him out in gym class, and he kicked it up into the [gym] window with no problem,” Corliss coach Keith Brookshire said. “I just told him, ‘It’s just like a penalty [kick]. Just kick the ball like you’re striking the ball [in soccer].”
Duran plays club soccer as well as baseball. He joined the Trojans (4-2, 4-0 Public League South) in Week 3 and has been successfully converting extra points ever since.
“Coach really inspired me into [doing] it,” Duran said. “And I just felt like I had to put in that missing piece for the team.”
There hadn’t been an opportunity for a field goal before Saturday, though, and Brookshire said the Trojans last converted one before the pandemic. But neither Brookshire nor his players had any doubts about Duran’s ability with the game on the line.
“He’s been lights-out ever since [he started],” Brookshire said. “I think he’d be good from 40 if we needed it. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him. He’s got a lot of confidence in himself.”
Ditto for Corliss quarterback Elliott Turner. After the Trojans’ defense stopped Perspectives to start overtime, Turner ran three times for 17 yards — navigating around a pair of penalties — to set up Duran.
“He practices those every day,” Turner said. “I’ve got trust in everybody on my squad. He did what he needed to do. He didn’t listen to the noise; he blocked out the noise. I’m proud of him. I think everybody is.”
The Trojans actually lined up for a 23-yard field goal on the last play of regulation. But after Perspectives called two consecutive timeouts to freeze Duran, a low snap was fumbled, and he didn’t get a clean kick.
The Warriors also called a timeout before the OT kick, but Duran wasn’t fazed.
“Nerves never got to me because I knew their plan,” he said.
Offense was at a premium all day. Perspectives (3-3, 3-1) never reached the red zone, and Corliss did so just twice, at the end of each half. The first-half possession ended with a fumble.
Turner ran 12 times for 72 yards and was 5-for-13 passing for 54 yards. He started the season as a receiver but moved to quarterback when starter Taylen Reed was injured and has accounted for 11 touchdowns in the last four weeks.
“He knows the offense, and he can command the huddle,” Brookshire said. “He’s a leader, and he gets our big yards, our tough yards. ... He’s definitely a Division-I player.”
Perspectives was held to 84 yards.
“Penalties got the best of our kids,” Warriors coach Terry Jones said. “And they were a little bit more frustrated when things didn’t go the way they wanted them to.”
