Newly crowned homecoming queen seals the game with kick for Dawson High School
PEARLAND, Texas (KTRK) -- Dawson High School clinched victory last week with a kick from none other than newly crowned homecoming queen Claire Jeffress.
The school's team, the Eagles, shared a video clip from last Friday's game showing Jeffress' game-winning kick. Dawson defeated Pearland 38-35 at The Rig during ABC13's Game of the Week.
Jeffress first teed it up on the football field in the seventh grade.
"I really started to enjoy the atmosphere. I loved the guys. I loved the sport and I really fell in love with playing it, and I didn't want to stop," Jeffress said.
"I play soccer, so I'm used to contact. I play a contact sport. It's not like I don't get bruises," she added.
She's good enough that many opponents don't ever see her ponytail.
"Sometimes they won't even notice until the end of the game," she admitted while smiling. "And they'll be like, 'Oh my gosh that's a girl!'"
She's a good kicker who happens to be a girl for a top program at Dawson High School.
"She even came to me and said, 'I don't get rattled and I'll kick it through.' We love having her out here. She's awesome," Eagles Coach Eric Wells told ABC13 last year.
Jeffress fits in so well that Wells never had to address it with the guys on his team. They trust her with the game on the line. And she knows they'll always protect their kicker.
"I really trust this team. I trust the line to block" Jeffress said. "I trust everybody so I'm not scared of it. I think they're really gonna have my back."
Where's it all lead? Right down the middle.
"I'm a football player out here, not necessarily just a girl so, it's a great place to be," she added.
