Freeland’s ‘Powderpuff’ kicker continues family football legacy

FREELAND, MI – When Brooke Riffel was 12 years old, her dad took her out to the practice field to kick field goals.

“Guys were practicing around us … I was really nervous and thought this is really silly,” Riffel said. “But my dad (John Riffel) was a kicker at (Saginaw) MacArthur, so he wanted to show me how to kick. It was silly, but it was fun.”

And, as it turns out, an important learning experience.

Riffel kicked four extra points Friday in Freeland’s 42-3 win over Clare, extending the Riffel kicking legacy.

“My brother played hockey, and he wasn’t a kicker,” Riffel said. “So my parents didn’t expect to have a kicker in the family. They were pretty excited. They were so supportive of me.”

A female kicker is not new at Freeland. In 2017, Mackenzie Stroebel handled the extra-point duties for the Falcons in the fall and earned all-state soccer honors in the spring. She started at forward for Tennessee Southern, which won the NAIA national title.

“I haven’t talked to her, but knowing she did it really helped my confidence,” Riffel said. “I wasn’t the first. It could be done. And it wasn’t anything new.”

Freeland coach Kevin Townsend did more than just accept Riffel’s position on the team. He encouraged it.

“We’ve done this before, so it wasn’t anything new to us,” Townsend said. “We’re always looking for ways to improve our team. And she does that.”

Townsend “discovered” Riffel while officiating Freeland’s annual Powderpuff football game that pits girls from the junior class against the girls from the senior class.

“I think scouting the Powderpuff game should be a regular thing for us,” Townsend said. “But the game went into overtime, and we couldn’t let it end in a tie. So the girls kicked. We noticed she had a really strong leg.”

Riffel, who starts on defense for the Freeland girls soccer team, received a call from Freeland assistant coach Dave Schauman.

“It kind of surprised me, but he was very encouraging, telling me I should try to kick for the football team,” Riffel said. “We really couldn’t do it then because the team was playing their season. But if I was going to do it, I was going to take it seriously.”

Riffel, who also plays travel soccer for Bay City-based BASA, went to her dad for help. What John Riffel couldn’t teach, he found on YouTube. Brooke Riffel studied and worked.

“I wasn’t going to just do it to do it,” Riffel said. “If I was going to do it, I wanted to be good at it. So I worked during the spring. During the summer, I did all the conditioning work with the football team. I would go to the field on my own, run a couple laps and kick field goals, sometimes by myself and sometimes with friends.

“When I kicked by myself, I would have to go pick the balls up by myself. That teaches you to be accurate … it made it easier to pick them up when they were together.”

But the true test came Thursday, with Freeland taking on Clare in the season-opener.

“Before the game, I wanted to take a nap, but I couldn’t sleep,” Riffel said. “I wanted to eat, but I couldn’t. It was tough leading up to the game. I didn’t want to let anyone down.”

On Freeland’s first drive of the game, Nick Harrington ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:34 remaining in the first quarter.

“It happens so fast,” Riffel said. “You’re just standing there watching, and the coach puts up the ‘1′ sign and you’re out there. Actually, it happens so fast, you don’t have time to think. It’s just adrenaline.”

The kick was perfect, giving Freeland a 7-0 lead.

“Kicking a football is different than kicking a soccer ball,” Townsend said. “Not everyone can do it. There’s a different spot you have to kick, a different part of your foot.”

But Riffel is learning.

“It’s different,” Riffel said. “But the other part that you have to get used to is how much you have to depend on everybody else. In soccer, I can line up a goal kick, and it’s just me. In football, you’ve got the line, the long snapper, the holder, the kicker. We all have to have confidence in each other. I have confidence in them. They have confidence in me.”

Ty Fournier is Freeland’s holder, while Sam Talaga is the long snapper.

Riffel, who only kicks extra points, estimates her range extends to 35 yards. But she continues to work on improving her range, accuracy and form. Sometimes, she gets help from 2020 graduate Jack Dreyer, who was a kicker for Freeland.

The response, Riffel says, has been surprising.

“If there are people who disagree with what I’m doing, they don’t say anything,” Riffel said. “I’ve only heard positive things from friends and classmates. After the game, I was getting hugs from parents I didn’t really know, telling me how proud they were of me.

“You wonder how the team is going to be, but they were accepting of me immediately. They encouraged me, helped me. They made me part of the team.

“It’s why I was comfortable when I stepped on the field. I’m supposed to be here.”

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