Connor Poole played soccer all his life, but sophomore year, he decided to give football a try and went to a workout. “Coach Crews and Coach Ross had been talking to me about trying it out, and I just decided to go one day.”

Poole kept going every day after that for the next three years. As a senior, he had some personal goals that he wanted to achieve, and with the season winding down, Poole was able to accomplish them.

“I wanted to kick a game-winning field goal, and I wanted to kick one that was at least fifty yards,” Poole said.

It came down to the last two regular season games, but he reached both of those milestones. The first of these came against Hazleton on senior night.  The game was tied with 14 seconds left. Poole would have to make a 45-yard field goal for Williamsport to win, his longest kick yet. As they lined up, Hazleton called time out, giving Poole extra time to have to think about the kick.

“Learning how to move with pads and a helmet on was a transition coming from soccer. But the hardest transition was definitely the mental aspect of the game. In soccer, you have 80 minutes to play and lots of time to make up for any mistakes.  It’s not the same in football.”

There probably weren’t any bigger moments for Poole all season. As the teams made their way back to the line, Poole prepared again for the kick. And then he put it through the uprights to give Williamsport the lead and the win.

In his final regular season game against Tunkhannock, Poole kicked a career long 50-yard field goal. He also set a new school record with the kick.

Most recently, Poole was named first team all conference for kicking and punting.

Next fall, Poole plans to attend college and play football.