Teenage Girl Wows Fans As Huntington High School Football Team's Kicker

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- Long Island high school football fans are taking notice of a successful new kicker.

That's because she's 17-year-old Taylor Moreno, the only girl in the rough and tumbles league.

Snap after snap, members of the Huntington Blue Devils have come to trust in their newest kicker.

"Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to play football," she told TV 10/55's Long Island Bureau Chief Richard Rose.

The senior actually wanted her to be a quarterback, but her parents feared she'd be badly injured, so she played in a flag football league. Things changed when the Blue Devils football coach saw her kick a soccer ball fifty yards and immediately invited her to try her luck with the pigskin.

"Out of all the players that have kicked and we brought in this year, she's been the most consistent, she's done an excellent job, she's our best right now," Coach Steven Muller said.

Teammates were impressed with the early results. Moreno has kicked it through the uprights 9 out of 12 times.

"She can kick that thing like crazy. I was not expecting how far she kicked that in practice," Michael Lonergan said.

With some high school lineman weighing more than 300-lbs Moreno faces physical danger and has already been knocked down once.

"Sometimes it's nerve wracking, being in there, seeing these big guys come at you, it's definitely like a great experience," she said.

Many of the players on the Blue Devils grew up with Taylor and have known for years that she's a great athlete.

"It shows me like how mentally tough she is and how much more confidence she has in herself, and our team to protect her," Amaru Jones said.

Moreno said the lesson is simple.

"It definitely shows no matter whether you're a girl or a boy, you shouldn't be afraid to compete in anything," she said.

It's a fearlessness that has earned her both respect and acceptance.

Despite her newfound success on the gridiron Moreno plans to play lacrosse next year when she attends the University of North Carolina.