Niece of Former All-Pro Kicker Efren Herrera Is Making a Name for Herself in High School Football

To a casual observer, the scene at a recent high school football game might have seemed odd.

A kicker makes a short field goal, jumps up and down in celebration and finally leaps into the arms of a 280-pound lineman, who smothers the 5-foot-6, 116-pound kicker with a big, long bear hug.

But while some players might have rewarded their teammate with a pat on the behind for a good kick, Monroe High players and coaches treat their kicker differently--and for good reason. Their kicker is a girl.

“I caught myself in mid-swing and came right up her back and patted her on her helmet,” Monroe Coach Sloan Bunting said. “I’m so glad I caught myself. I was standing right out there on the field where everyone could see me.”

Liz Nemeth of North Hills Monroe is not the first female kicker to play high school football nor the only one on a varsity team in the Southland. Sun Valley Poly, Quartz Hill and Westminster La Quinta have female kickers.

And with Liz Heaston of Willamette University in Oregon kicking down the barrier for women in college football a few weeks ago, there might come a day when a woman kicks for a major college football program.

Nemeth has been an accurate kicker this season, making one of two field-goal attempts and 22 of 27 extra-point tries. She has helped Monroe to a 6-2 overall record and 3-2 mark in the Valley Pac-8 Conference going into Friday’s game against Poly.

“She is consistently getting better,” Bunting said. “Liz has got a long way to go, but I’m very anxious about her future.”

Nemeth, a junior soccer player who started kicking a football last June, couldn’t ask for a more qualified mentor.

Her uncle is Efren Herrera, an All-American at UCLA in 1973 who played for the Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills from 1974-82.

Nemeth approached Herrera in June and asked if he would teach her to kick a football. Herrera, who graduated from La Puente High and was all-pro in 1977, was happy to oblige.

“I’d seen her play soccer and she kicks the ball real hard,” Herrera said.

Herrera drove from his home in Claremont to the San Fernando Valley twice in June to work with his niece on timing and the basics of kicking.

One of the most important things to remember? “Whatever happens--a bad snap, kick gets blocked--you don’t blame anybody,” he told Nemeth. “You don’t alienate yourself.”

Nemeth decided to try out for the football team after two sessions with her uncle.

“I thought if I can kick decent, I will try out,” she said. “I didn’t want to embarrass myself.”

Nemeth’s tryout was impressive. So impressive, in fact, the other kicker trying out ran off the field and quit.

“Both did well,” Bunting said. “[But] after a while she was more consistent and [the other kicker] said, ‘I don’t want to do it anymore.’ ”

Herrera said consistency is one of Nemeth’s strengths.

“[Women] know accuracy,” Herrera said. “They know how to hit those corners. Liz doesn’t get wild and hook the ball like guys will do. Guys will try to power a kick and over-kick. Girls don’t do that.”

Nemeth’s venture into the world of boys’ athletics has been relatively smooth. In the beginning, however, Nemeth said she received a cold shoulder from teammates and even thought about quitting. But things got progressively better and she is enjoying much more camaraderie.

“I actually carry on conversations with them now,” she said.

To be sure, she is a favorite of offensive linemen Eric Beltran and Jose Gurrola.

“Those guys are her buddies--her bodyguards,” said Bunting, who limits Nemeth’s duties to extra points and field goals to protect her from contact.

But not everyone appears happy to have her on the field.

“Some [opponents] get mad and they don’t shake my hand after the game,” Nemeth said. “At least one guy in every game [refuses] to shake my hand. Against Hoover three or four guys didn’t shake my hand.”

Nemeth’s uncle would just as soon not see anyone touching his niece. Especially on her backside.

“As soon as somebody pats her on the bottom, I’m gonna jump the fence,” Herrera said.