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Hampshire finishes with win

Hampshire defeated Woodstock 15-12 on Friday via a rarely used weapon in a football coach's arsenal: the free kick.

With the score knotted at 12-12, Woodstock (1-8, 1-5 Fox Valley Fox) was forced to punt from its own 1-yard line on fourth-and-long.

Hampshire coach Mike Brasile, a Woodstock graduate who coached on the Woodstock staff for six years alongside Blue Streaks coach Steve Beard, instructed punt returner Jared Lund to call for a fair catch, which he did.

By rule, a team that fair catches a punt can attempt an unobstructed free kick off a tee from that spot.

Hampshire's usual field goal kicker, Jose Hernandez, was unavailable to attempt the kick because he hurt his ankle in Hampshire's regional soccer game earlier Friday evening. Thus, Brasile designated junior center Matt Kielbasa to attempt the free kick

Kielbasa, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound junior blasted the kick through the uprights from 42 yards away for the winning points with 15 seconds left. Hampshire finished the season 4-5 overall, 2-3 in the FVC Fox

"When I coached at Woodstock with coach Beard we practiced that play every Thursday just in case, but we never had an opportunity to use it," Brasile said. "Unbelievably, it comes up when we're playing them and we win the game. It was nuts."

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