When the NFL record for longest field goal sits at 63 yards, you don’t expect to see a 67-yarder from a teenager—but that’s exactly what happened in Washington state on Thursday night, as senior Austin Rehkow of Central Valley High School tied the national record for second-longest field goal in a high school game.
Yes, the 67 yards that Rehkow got on his field goal was just the second longest ever. In 1985, Dirk Borgognone of Reno, Nev., hit a 68-yarder, according to the National Federation of High Schools Record Book.
From the video, it looked like Rehkow’s kick was right down the middle, with perhaps another couple of yards to spare. And it was essential to the game, as it tied his Central Valley High squad with Shadle Park High at 55 as regulation expired. Central Valley went on to win the game—clearly a defensive struggle—by a score of 62-55 in overtime.
While it wasn’t a national record, Rehkow’s kick was a Washington state record, surpassing the old record of 62 yards set in 1929. Yes, 1929!
Rehkow hasn’t been a bigtime recruit up to this point, but that surely is about to change. He has received just a partial scholarship offer to Eastern Washington up to this point, and hadn’t gotten much interest from other programs. Good kickers are always a godsend at any level, but with the dearth of great kickers in the college ranks right now, Rehkow is sure to get some looks by bigger programs now.
The coaches at Eastern Washington are probably cursing Rehkow’s leg for putting him on the radar of bigtime programs across the country.
Ironically, Rehkow’s kick overshadowed another stellar performance in the same game—Shadle Park High’s Brett set a state record in the game with 577 passing yards, breaking the old record by 61 yards. Rypien is the nephew of former Washington Redskins’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback Mark Rypien, who also went to Shadle Park High.
