Wildcats kicker's Best moment ever

Two seconds and 21 yards.

That’s all that separated kicker Cody Best from a lofty place in Blue Springs football lore.

Following a successful fourth-and-2 carry by teammate Darrian Miller and a pass from Jared Lanpher to Miller, who stepped out of bounds with two ticks left on the Rockhurst High School stadium scoreboard, it was all up to Best.

If he connected on the 21-yard field goal, the Wildcats would own a 23-21 victory and a spot in Friday’s Class 6 state semifinal contest against undefeated DeSmet.

A miss, and … well, Best didn’t want to think about a miss.

“I went into that kick with a great attitude, a positive attitude,” said the senior kicker, who had three field goals, two extra-point kicks and three kickoffs into the end zone last Friday at Rockhurst High School. “But, in the back of my mind, I knew if I missed it … well, I was going to let a lot of people down. But I put that out of my mind. I just concentrated on the positives. We’ve had a lot of success this season and I hadn’t missed a field goal (7-for-7) or extra point – and this was from the 4-yard line, so it was like an extra point.”

Seconds before his attempt, Rockhurst coach Tony Severino called a timeout to ice the Wildcats kicker.

“We expected it,” Best said, grinning. “We even do that at our practices. We’ll line up for a game-winning kick, and call timeout, so I’m used to it.”

But are you used to it with the season on the line and 10,000 fans screaming so loud you can’t hear your teammates in the huddle?

“There was a little more pressure last Friday,” Best said, “but there really wasn’t pressure. It’s just become natural.”

Right before the kick, teammate Jordan Nubine approached Best.

“Whether you make it or not,” Nubine whispered, “we still love you.”

Long snapper Tim Supplee added, “It’s like walking, or breathing. We’ve really got a lot of faith in everyone. I know my snap to Jared (Lanpher) is going to hit him in the hand and that Cody is going to kick it through the uprights.

“There was pressure Friday because it was such a big kick. But I never thought for a moment we wouldn’t make it.”

While Lanpher, the cool, calm collected Wildcats quarterback, runs the Blue Springs offense with the deftness of a surgeon, he made a surprising confession.

“When we were getting down to field-goal range, I knew we were going to get the job done,” Lanpher said. “Darrian got those 2 yards on his own, and he got out of bounds after the (11-yard) pass, but I have to admit that before we kicked (it), I was freaking out.

“I knew Cody would kick it and I knew that Tim would give me the perfect ball – and the snap was the most perfect snap of the season – but Rockhurst has ended our season the past two years, and I didn’t want it to happen again.

“I remember everything about the play. They called the timeout, Coach Donohoe got us all calmed down and told us we’d done it 100 times this season, and we went out and did it.

“The snap was perfect, the kick was a little bit of a knuckleball – but all that counted was that it went through. And it split the uprights – perfect! After that, I don’t remember anything. I just remember everyone rushing the field and going crazy.

“It was the greatest feeling ever. I’ve never experienced anything like that in the three years I’ve started for this team.”

Monday afternoon, in a giddy and noisy Blue Springs locker room, Donohoe handed out post-game honors to the offensive MVPs, the defensive MVPs, the hardest hitters of the game and a variety of other honors.

“It was easy to select those guys,” Donohoe said, grinning. “But the coaches and I just couldn’t come up with a special teams MVP.”

The look on Best’s face was priceless.

Ditto for his teammates.

“What about Best?” they cried out in unison.

“Oh, yeah – Cody Best,” Donohoe said. “Get on up here.”

With his teammates cheering, and stomping and clamping their hands, the young man with the golden toe enjoyed the second Best moment of his life.

Want to guess when the Best moment took place?