MUSKEGON TWP. - You read it all the time in sports media.
A reporter will write that someone scored a touchdown, giving his team a 7-0 lead.
Of course that’s not accurate, because touchdowns are only worth six points. The chance to get that extra point – or two, as it may be - comes after the score.
That critical PAT (point after touchdown) can make all the difference in a tight game, which was the case last Friday for the Reeths-Puffer football team.
Luke Callender, the Rockets’ senior placekicker, calmly converted both of his PAT opportunities, literally giving the Rockets a huge 14-12 victory over Zeeland West, a conference rival R-P had never beaten.
R-P kicker Luke Callender
The two successful kicks continued a hot streak for Callender, who has now converted 15 straight extra points, going back to Week 6 against Grand Rapids Union.
“It felt good to be able to put them ahead,” Callender, an R-P soccer standout, said about his contributions in the Zeeland West game. “They gave me the opportunity to come out and play and I just do what I can to help them.”
Some fans might have the impression that PATs are pretty automatic, but at the high school level that’s not always true.
A lot of prep kickers are hit-and-miss, and some teams literally have nobody who can put the ball through the uprights.
It’s a huge plus for a team to have a reliable kicker like Callender, and R-P head coach Cody Kater is well aware of that.
Callender kicks as teammate Bryce Ross lets go of the hold.
“We do not take (extra points) for granted,” said Kater, who added that PATs were a huge problem for the team in 2022. “Last year we left about 25 points off the scoreboard. It was a trainwreck.
“Luke has been a real blessing for our team. He brings a calm presence and fits right into our culture. He does the work, gets himself prepared, and has been on fire lately.”
Callender had never played football before this season, unless you count flag football in the fourth grade.
He’s been a soccer kid all his life, and was a standout midfielder for Reeths-Puffer, which posted a 16-5-1 record this fall.
“It started with (the football coaches) asking the soccer team, and (soccer coach Kody Harrell) asking me and a couple of other guys if we might be interested,” Callender said.
Callender kicks off against Grand Rapids Union.
Callender beat out a soccer teammate for the football kicking job, a fact that was really special for his father, Don Callender, who was a quarterback at Bay City John Glenn High School and Michigan Tech University.
“He was really excited to see me do something he did in school,” Callender said. “He’s been loving it. He’s been to every game. He’s my biggest fan!”
It took some time for Callender to become nearly automatic on extra points. He did well in the first five games of the season, but had five missed attempts mixed in.
He started gaining consistency in Week 6 against Grand Rapids Union, when he converted 6 of 7 attempts, including the last one.
He converted all seven attempts on Homecoming against Wyoming, all five in a pouring rain against Zeeland East, and both of his tries last week against Zeeland West.
Callender, right, drills an extra point against Zeeland West.
He said it’s simply been a matter of getting accustomed to the task and working out the timing with his partners, holder Bryce Ross and long-snapper Shaun Haley.
"It’s not a hard kick, like 20 yards,” said Callender, who is 34-for-39 on the season. “But there’s a lot more to it than that. You have to get the timing down. Once we got the hang of it, it became one fluid motion.”
Callender is excited about the chance to kick for R-P in the Division 2 football playoffs, which begin on Friday night when the Rockets visit Mona Shores for a rematch with the rival Sailors.
It’s a second opportunity for postseason success this fall for Callendar, who was disappointed when the R-P soccer team was stunned in the district semifinals by Hudsonville, ending its great season.
“We had our hopes too high,” he said about the soccer loss. “We thought we were going to get through our district, but it was over when it was over. It didn’t really hit me until about the last 10 minutes of that game.
Callender (right) in action during R-P's district soccer game against Hudsonville.
“But then the next day I showed up for football practice, with these guys preparing for something huge, and it’s just awesome to be a part of that.”
Callender is aware that he might also have to try a field goal in a playoff game and thinks he would be up to the task. The Rockets have only attempted one field goal this season, in the regular season game against Mona Shores, and Callendar nailed a 23-yarder.
But he hopes he doesn’t have to try another one, because that will mean the 7-2 Rockets are still scoring touchdowns at their usual rapid pace, and seven points are always better than three.
“I would rather put up a PAT than a field goal!” Callender said.
