Off the foot of a Dove

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on August 28, 2014 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

As the first hour of Eastern Wayne's practice winds down, the offense sets up to practice its extra points.

Five players surround the place-kicker.

They yell and scream, hoping to cause the kicker to loose focus and miss.

The ball is snapped, the hold is good and its spins end over end as it sails through the imaginary uprights.

A braided ponytail hangs out from underneath the helmet.

Could it be?

Yes, the Warriors' kicker is a girl -- Cameron Dove.

The senior is the first-ever female to come through Bubba Williams' system during his time as head coach, and he tries not to treat her like a girl.

"I don't want to say she's one of the guys, because she's not a guy," Williams said. "But to me she's just like every other player on the team. She does all the things I've had all of my kickers do in the past.

"And she's doing it well."

A two-sport letter-winner, Dove plays tennis in the fall and soccer in the spring. She talked with her parents about playing football and after receiving full support, she decided to put down the racquet and strap on a helmet and shoulder pads. It made sense since she was the primary free kicker on the soccer team.

Dove figured if she could kick a soccer ball for distance, maybe she could do the same for the football team. But she had to prove it to the coaches and earn a spot on the squad.

During the first week of preseason, Dove competed with another soccer player -- a boy -- for the starting spot.

"There was a boy who came out for the position and she pretty much ran him off and ran away with the job," Williams said.

Dove says she doesn't know much about football. She's never been a huge fan of the game and admits she's trying to learn about it. But she often doesn't know what's going on during the game.

"Sometimes I get confused and I'm just like 'I don't know what's going on. I'll just go kick,'" Dove said. "So sometimes I'm like I don't really know why I did this. But it's so much fun."

Dove has played in front of fans before on the soccer pitch, but she's never been under the Friday night lights before Friday. She experienced nerves she'd never had before.

"It was my first time wearing all my pads and helmet all at once, so I didn't know what was going to happen," Dove said. "But once I got the first one through I felt a lot better about it."

Dove successfully converted all five extra-point attempts in a season-opening, 43-6 romp over North Lenoir. Her lone miss came on a field goal attempt from about 30 yards. She was assessed a personal foul at the end of the play.

Williams still laughs about it.

"She kicked a guy from how I heard it," Williams said. "He was talking junk to her and I guess she kicked him. It's funny because she really is just like one of the guys in that sense."