Here’s the kicker

Owatonna’s Landen Sturges made headlines two weeks ago when he was the hero who kicked a game-winning 37-yard field goal in a 17-14 win over New Prague on homecoming night.

However, kicking isn’t even what he views to be the strongest part of his game; it’s not even his primary fall sport. Soccer has always been his lifelong fall activity, and he is currently a starting center back and alternate goaltender for the Huskies’ boys team.

“Mondays, I go from chalk talk to soccer lifting and then depending on homework and scheduling, I go to hockey practice at night. Tuesdays, I go to football practice and then soccer games at night. Wednesdays, I go from football to soccer and then back to football, and then hockey depending on the evening. Thursdays, I go to football and then a soccer game. Fridays are for football and then some Saturdays I have soccer games,” said Sturges describing his weekly schedule.

The week-long grind would be enough to leave most high school students in a tizzy, but for Sturges, it’s just normal.

“It’s amazing being able to do this as a high schooler, being able to play all these sports and be so involved. All of the people are just fantastic. All of the teammates I’ve played with since the parks and rec days. These are the guys I’m going to go through life with and it’s just amazing being able to be a part of it. Looking back on it, I don’t want to have any regrets on my sports career… It’s a blessing to be able to do this,” said Sturges.

According to him, the transition from protecting the goal in soccer to kicking field goals on the gridiron for the football team was inspired by former soccer teammate, Drew Henson.

Henson, a former two-sport standout between soccer and football as well, taught Sturges how to kick field goals at the old high school campus.

“Drew came to me my freshman year when I got to play some varsity minutes on the soccer team. I’ve always felt like I have a strong leg, and he asked me, ‘Do you want to be a football kicker?’ He brought me to my first-ever practice after school, I met the team at the old high school and we worked on kicking together,” said Sturges.

Just four short years later, Sturges got his opportunity to make all of his practice pay off when Owatonna Head Coach Jeff Williams called his number with the game on the line against New Prague.

According to Sturges, the career-long 37-yard field goal attempt was well within his range that he’s practiced, but the closer he gets to 50 yards is where accuracy drops off a bit.

When the snap and hold went down according to plan, the senior ran up and hit the ball pure – but then his world took a spin.

“A guy from the right edge came untouched, and right as I kicked it, he ended up hitting me and taking me down. I was on the ground behind the line, so I didn’t get to see it go through but I saw it go up. When I got up, the whole team was so energized. I knew once I hit the ball… I could hear it. It’s one of those things where when you kick it and you feel nothing, you know it’s good. It was an amazing moment,” said Sturges.