Kicker First Girl To Score Point In South Lakes Varsity Football Game

RESTON, VA — When the South Lakes High football team lined up for its extra point after taking a 28-point lead over Falls Church last Friday night in Reston, it seemed like a routine kick in what was becoming a blowout.

It was actually somewhat historic. With a comfortable lead, the Seahawks let their junior varsity kicker try a point after and she – yes, she – made it. Lila Jaster is the first girl to ever score a point in a football game for South Lakes, whose program dates back to the mid-1970s.

Jaster, a junior, made a point-after kick last year against Falls Church as well, and she has made all three of her attempts at the junior varsity level this season.

“It’s amazing. It doesn’t feel real,” Jaster said. “I just did what I do for the team.”

Jaster said it was a little scary when she started playing football her freshman year. She was a swimmer and soccer player growing up, and when she told her brother she was looking for more of a challenge, he suggested she try football. Her friends and teammates had all been girls before.

Now she was the only girl in a program with 90 boys, and she not only kicks, she goes through tackling drills with all the other kickers every week. She’s never had to make a tackle by herself in a game, but “I did stand my ground once on a kickoff return and slowed a guy down so other people could catch him.”

She has her own area to change, “her own Taj Mahal,” South Lakes Coach Jason Hescock said. And she’s gotten comfortable in the world of high school football.

“I’m used to it. I like the atmosphere,” she said. “The boys challenge me to be my best.”

She’s not just there to be on the team. Her specialty now on JV is pooch kicks – kicks that come down around the 30-yard line “outside the numbers,” she said, which gives South Lakes a chance to recover them.

Asked how many girls she thinks know what the phrase “outside the numbers” means, she said, “Less than 1 in a 100. I’ve learned to talk football. I even watch it. I usually never watch the sports I play, but now I do.”

Jaster wants to win the starting job. It has gotten more difficult as two other good kickers have joined the competition. She has ramped up her own workouts and gotten a new kicking coach.

“I’m kicking more to improve for next season,” she said. “I have to get the ball higher and farther and kick with more power.”

Hescock said Jaster is making progress and earning opportunities. “She shows up every day and does everything we tell her to do. You do that and you have a good week, we look for ways to get you on the field. Lila’s earning her way.”

SEAHAWKS NOTES: South Lakes, 1-2, travels to Mount Vernon on Friday night, and Hescock said the Seahawks are again facing a team that lost virtually no one from last year’s squad.

“They’re fast, explosive and athletic,” Hescock said of the Majors, who are 0-2 with losses to Unity Reed (26-14) and Westfield (49-6). “They’re older, they’re bigger, they’re faster, they're stronger. We’re going to have to play to our potential and execute.”

The Seahawks had their best night running the ball of the season last week with 198 yards on 30 carries, including 91 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries by Seahawks senior Cody Wood.

“He had good trust in his offensive line. He was patient and took advantage of what was there.”

Hescock said the Seahawks needed a similar effort this week and for the defense to slow down the Majors’ big-play potential.

“Our defensive line is wreaking havoc. That’s our most consistent group,” Hescock said. “We’re moving some people around in the secondary, so it’s important they have a big week.”