Barth nearly makes 57-yard FG in East-West game

A small gust of wind or a little breeze would have been enough. That’s how close North Carolina-signee Connor Barth was to nailing a 57-yard field-goal in the 56th North Carolina Coaches Association’s East-West game Friday night in Greensboro in front of over 9,000 fans. With the East up 7-3 in the third-quarter, Barth’s only field-goal attempt of the game fell three-four feet short of the goalpost.

“I thought I had it,” said Barth, who USA Today selected as the best prep kicker in the nation. “I think I started celebrating a little too early.

“I know what I did. I needed to take a little height off of it and I would have gotten more distance. But that stuff happens.”

The miss ended up being the margin of defeat as the West scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter for a 10-7 win.

Still, the score nor the errant kick seemed to affect Barth’s upbeat attitude.

“I had a lot of fun here and it was a good experience,” he said. “I made a bunch of great friends.”

Barth opened the game with a poor kickoff, a line drive that landed at the 15-yard line and was nearly returned for a touchdown.

“In every 100 kicks I take I’m going to end up with at least one bad one,” he said. “It just ended up being tonight.”

Barth, who broke several records at Hoggard High in Wilmington (N.C.), bounced back by nearly hitting his next kickoff out of the end zone for a touchback. He also hit four punts, one of which traveled 50 yards.

Barth is expected to take over the place-kicking duties for the Tar Heels this fall, but will not be punting. Like a handful of other members of the recruiting class, he enrolled in classes this summer.

“Tomorrow is the last day of classes,” Barth said. “I’m going to go home for two weeks and see my family and then come back when practice starts (Aug. 9). Hopefully I can get that starting position.”

Barth showed off his remarkable leg strength in pre-game warm ups, nailing back-to-back 60-yard field-goal attempts — each with a handful of yards to spare.

Notes: UNC-signee Trimane Goddard, ranked among the best defensive backs in the country, was on the original roster for the game but turned down an invite. Wake Forest-signees Mike Causey and Aaron Curry, both LBs, led a strong defensive performance from the East. N.C. State-signees Andre Brown (RB) and Daniel Evans (QB) and Duke-signees Andreas Platt (LB) and Jonathan Terry (OL) also played. Evans threw a pair of well-thrown deep passes, but both were dropped.