Converted J.F. Kenendy soccer star Scalia a hero kicker
From the first day he stepped onto the gridiron, J.F. Kennedy High School placekicker Matt Scalia, a converted soccer player who never before booted a pigskin, exhibited a “laid-back” attitude that suggested he would be unflappable under pressure.
After the Mustangs squandered a three-touchdown halftime lead in Friday night’s season-opener against New Brunswick, Scalia was sent out to the field to attempt a game-winning 33-yard field goal with just 10 seconds remaining.
The senior, who missed field goals of 37 and 25 yards earlier in the game, split the uprights for a dramatic 24-21 victory.
“I don’t really even think he knew the magnitude of the kick,” J.F. Kennedy head coach Andrew Maurizio said. “He just went up there and said, ‘OK. I’m going to kick it.’ He has a real laid-back attitude. He never played football before, so he really doesn’t get nervous as some other kids would.”
Despite the fact that Scalia, who converted three PATs in the game, missed the first two field goal attempts of his career, Maurizio said he “had no reservations whatsoever” about sending his rookie placekicker out for the third time.
“Anytime we are on the 20 yard line or in, it’s go grab your (kicking) block,” Maurizio said. “I’ve seen him do it over and over again (in practice). When it came time to think about whether or not to kick, there was no doubt in my mind he was going to make that kick.”
Despite his coach’s confidence and the fact that he exhibited calm on the exterior, Scalia said he didn’t exactly have ice in his veins as he went out take the potential game-winner, which the right-footed kicker made from the right hash.
“It definitely took a toll,” Scalia said of the two previous misses. “I said, ‘I’ve got to be able to make this one. This one counts.’ In my mind, I just calmed myself down. I had the support of my team. I just went out and made it.”
Scalia said the feeling of booting a game-winning field goal far exceeded the emotion that accompanied any goal he ever scored in 12 previous years of playing soccer, comparing it to the possibility of netting “a last-minute goal for a soccer state championship.”
In school on Monday, classmates congratulated Scalia, who felt like the Big Man on Campus a couple days after teammates mobbed him on the field.
“I never knew the importance of a kicker until that moment after that game,” Scalia said, noting that helping his team win the field position battle throughout the night was equally paramount. “(Classmates) were all just congratulating me. I’m really happy that I’m on the team now.”
Scalia, who played organized soccer since he was 5, spent the last two years as a striker on J.F. Kennedy’s varsity team.
He epitomizes the growing number of soccer converts who continue to infiltrate the high school kicking ranks, filling a much-needed void on special teams.
After the Mustangs graduated reliable kicker/punter Matt Williams, an All-Greater Middlesex Conference White Division performer who represented J.F. Kennedy in last summer’s MyCentralJersey.com Snapple Bowl, gridiron player Connor Aston told Scalia the Mustangs needed a replacement.
Maurizio, who knew of Scalia’s soccer background, simply asked the rookie to tee the ball up from the 40 yard-line for a kickoff. When the first ball Scalia booted arced through the air to the 5-yard line, Maurizio knew he found Williams’ successor.
When Scalia subsequently booted a 42-yard field goal, “all of his teammates got real excited, the coaches got real excited,” Maurizio said.
“He can kick like a mule,” J.F. Kennedy boys soccer coach Joe Migacz said. “He always had the ability to hit the ball since he was a little kid. Him translating that to field-goal kicking is perfect.”
Scalia said Friday night’s game-winning kick served as a confidence booster that will help his “nervous” inner feeling match his “laid-back” outward demeanor.
“I think I’m going to be able to make more field goals in pressure situations,” he said.
Staff Writer Greg Tufaro: 732-565-7289; gtufaro@mycentraljersey.com