High school rivalry game highlighted by No. 1 team's first-ever female place kicker

Friday night’s matchup between St. Francis High School and Bellarmine College Prepin Mountain View, CA is already slated as must-see rivalry football, particularly with St. Francis being undefeated so far this season.

But this week’s game is a little different from ones in previous seasons, with St. Francis’s addition of a not-so-average kicker.

Enter Courtney Ogren: The soccer player turned first female place-kicker in the program’s history.

“I am living my own episode of Friday Night Lights," the high school senior told Darren Sabedra of the San Jose Mercury News.

No doubt, hers is quite the football story. A soccer goalkeeper who “lived in the shadow” of an athlete older brother, Ogren journey to the gridiron reportedly started when she asked a group of football players if she could attempt to kick the pigskin.

Fast-forward to this September, and Ogren—who is committed to play soccer at Santa Clara University—was jogging out onto the field for the football team.

“She's just like one of us," teammate Ryan Moles told the Merc of Ogren, who suits up in the girls locker room before joining the guys for pre-game . "She just goes along with anything we say, just always positive.”

Ogren is 10-for-10 in PAT attempts, and still looking for her first field goal of the season. Notching that on Friday would be quite the sports moment, given the hype around both the “Holy War” game and around Ogren herself.

“It's crazy,” Ogren told the Merc. “ There is so much hype around it. It's completely different from soccer -- and there is so much testosterone."