bethel green pkg

Goalkeeper sarah fuller make history last weekend...as the first woman to play in a power five conference college football game as the commodores kicker....she was pressed into duty when all the vandy kickers were out due to covid-19.

As abc 36's bobbi mcswine reports...before that history was made...a similar story was playing out on lexington's dunbar high school team.

Bethel green: "i think that any girl can really come out here and do whatever they want to if they have the mindset for it and if they have the skill for it."

That's exactly what dunbar senior...and soccer player...bethel green set out to prove when she asked head football coach...wes johnson...for a shot to be one of the team's kickers.

Bethel green: "and he said yes.

And i guess the first time that i ever gone up to kick i did fall, um, very badly, and the entire team was behind me laughing."

But she didn't give up... wes johnson: "all of a sudden she looked up and said, 'i got this.'

Butted went through and kicked it perfect- 35 yard field goal right down the middle of the uprights, and i was like, 'okay, we can do this.'" johnson says green spent weeks after that getting comfortable...and learning from the sidelines....until a teammate offered to let her take his place as kicker during a game against lafayette.

"and so i freaked out of course.

It was my first game.

I wasn't really ready for it."

But she was...she didn't miss a kick, which included a 22 yard field goal...helping the team secure the victory.

Bethel green: "the excitement from my teammates and the coaches was just unbelievable."

Green grew up loving football...and looking at her brother...who played in high school...and at u- k...as her role model.

The fact that she's the first girl in dunbar's history to play on the team isn't lost on her.

Bethel green: "if you get the emotional strength to just believe in yourself and go out there and try it, you can really come through and do anything you want."

In his 23 years of coaching...johnson says this is the first time he's had a girl on the team...but he views her just like anyone else.

Wes johnson: "you don't really think of the novelty of it, other than the fact that she's just a good kicker that can score points for the team."

A team green says has been more like family.

Bethe green: "i love my team and i wouldn't trade them for the world."

In lexington...bobbi mcswine...abc 36 news.

Still ahead..

The high school