This Winning Kick Had a Familiar Ring to It

Ask Chris Kluwe to solve the world’s problems in an afternoon. Make him answer the million-dollar question in five seconds. And put him practically anywhere on the field with the game on the line in the waning moments.

The guy can handle the pressure.

Kluwe, the kicking phenom from Los Alamitos High, kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give California a 29-27 victory over Texas on Saturday in the Shrine All-Star Football Classic before 7,000 at Cerritos College.

It was the second year in a row that a Los Alamitos player figured prominently in the outcome. Last year, Griffin receiver Keenan Howry caught the winning pass in California’s 28-25 come-from-behind victory.

“Kluwe in the clutch!” said California lineman Duke Preston, patting Kluwe on the back during a jubilant postgame scene. “Make it the headline.”

It was the second time in three games that Kluwe had booted a long field goal to propel his team to victory. Kluwe hit a 60-yard attempt last November to send a Southern Section quarterfinal playoff game against Los Angeles Loyola High into overtime. Los Alamitos won the game in double overtime.

Kluwe, who’s headed to UCLA, said he felt nearly the same lining up for his field goal Saturday as he did during the game against Loyola: nervous.

“Only this time I had a little more confidence I could make it because I had made it before,” he said.

For almost the entire game, it looked as if Kluwe would be the goat instead of the hero. He missed a 50-yard field goal early in the first quarter and sent a punt quacking 29 yards to the California 49-yard line later in the quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Kluwe missed an extra point, leaving California with a 13-7 lead.

“It was kind of pregame jitters,” Kluwe said. “I had to get those out.”

Kluwe fared better in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, when he connected on punts of 50 and 40 yards to pin Texas in its own territory.

Texas countered with a 92-yard drive, however, to take a 27-26 lead with 17.7 seconds left. Texas players acted like the game was over, gleefully jumping about the field in celebration.

But Kluwe would have the final act.

California returned the kickoff 34 yards to its 43-yard line. After a 15-yard personal foul, Kluwe lined up for his kick. He said he tried to block his earlier miss out of his mind.

“If I had allowed myself to think about that,” Kluwe said, “there was no way I could make it. When I don’t think, I kick a lot better.”

Kluwe hit the ball solidly and it went over the crossbar with a few yards to spare.

“I had all the confidence in the world,” California Coach Jim Benkert said. “He has a great foot. All I wanted him to do was hit it hard. When he got the ball up in the air, I knew we would be OK.”

Said safety Matt Grootegoed of Mater Dei: “That’s a weird feeling to win the game on a kick like that. That’s never happened to me before.”

It has to Kluwe.

“That’s what the kicker lives for,” he said.