Leilani Armenta originally enrolled at Jackson State University to play soccer, but she has made history as a kicker on the football team. On Saturday, the 18-year-old made the Tigers football team kicker during their home game against Bethune-Cookman.
Armenta also made history as the first female player on the Tigers. As an on-filed kicker, she is also the first female to play on a Division One HBCU football team. The freshman is a California native who graduated from Saint Bonaventure High School.
Her high school stats include scoring 98 out of 105 extra point attempts, five field goals as a kicker, 3,552 kickoff yards, two touchbacks, and three onside recoveries. According to Jackson Advocate Online, Armenta is a true athlete at heart, playing with an ACL injury her senior year.
She also played with a brace on Saturday due to injuring her knee ligament at St. Bonaventure High School, where she played on the girl’s soccer team and kicked for the high school football team. Tigers head coach T.C. Taylor told Clarion-Ledger that his main objective is ensuring Armenta doesn’t get hurt on the field.
“It’s my job not to let her go out there and get hurt,” Taylor told Clarion Ledger. “That’s why I gave her the opening kickoff, just tried to do a good job of protecting her. She just got here on Tuesday, so I didn’t want her to get hurt. It will take some time to get back in the swing of things.”
According to Black News, some Gator fans have expressed they think Armenta, who is white, was selected because of a viral moment she recently had. Many other Jackson State football fans are eager to see how Armenta’s season will unravel.
