CFB 150: April Goss Split the Uprights and Makes History
8/1/2019 7:00:00โฏPM | Football
Jacob Pavilack,ย the radio field analyst for the Golden Flashes, will be profiling influential Kent State players and coaches as well as historical moments from the program's history as part of College Football's 150th Anniversary.
It was an ugly and rainy day for the 2015 home opener against Delaware State at Dix Stadium. In early September, it was just 59 degrees and many of the announced crowd of 15,091 had umbrellas popped. The fans who stayed despite the rain received a treat as they saw placekicker April Goss make college and Kent State football history.
Goss joined the football squad as a walk-on in the spring of 2012 and arrived in Kent from her hometown of Aliquippa, Pa., a long-known hotbed of high school football tradition in Western part of the Keystone State. She kicked at Hopewell High School for two seasons, Goss redshirted her first year at Kent State and saw the Golden Flashes finish the Mid-American Conference schedule 8-0 and finish with a No. 25 national ranking in the AP Poll. The season culminated with an appearance in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala. where Goss met NASCAR Driver Danica Patrick, another female competing against predominately male competition.
. @DanicaPatrick & the kicker for Kent State! pic.twitter.com/ZE8vk8Wn
โ Danica Racing Online (@DanicaRacing) January 7, 2013
She didn't play until 2015, but was tested in a game-like scenario in 2014. During the spring game that year, with the white team down by three and the game on the line, then-head coach Paul Haynes called her number and she drilled the game-winning field goal in a 21-20 white squad win.
Fast forward tp 2015, the Kent State offense drove 60 yards for a touchdown on nine plays midway through the third quarter, to make it a 28-6 Golden Flashes. That's when April Goss received a chance to make history.
Out of the snap of Chad Bushley and the hold of George Bollas, Goss split the uprights and became just the second female in FBS history to appear in a game. She was immediately mobbed by her teammates and was carried by running back Trayion Durham. Goss became just the second female in FBS history to score a point, joining Katie Hnida who played at New Mexico from 2002-04.
The Golden Flashes would beat the Hornets 45-13 that day, and set a program record holding the opposition to -33 total yards. However, most people in the seats remember Goss' kick and the day they saw college football history.
April Goss of @KentStFootball becomes 2nd female ever to score in FBS game! pic.twitter.com/gNeBUa9Zdw
โ Kent State Athletics (@KentStAthletics) September 12, 2015
