You can listen to my full ‘5 Questions’ interview with Warwick’s Ryan Yohn here!

You can listen to my ‘5 Questions’ interview with New Era Player of the Week Ryan Yohn by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.

You can also download the Podcast and play it on your favorite mp3 device by clicking right here.

And continue reading the story from Tuesday’s New Era here …

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Redeem — v. To make up for; make amends for; offset; to restore the honor, worth or reputation of.

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Warwick senior kicker Ryan Yohn got some major redemption last Friday night.

And he couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.

With time running out and his team trailing by two points to Reading in an important L-L League Section 1 game, Yohn coolly and calmly booted a go-ahead 18-yard field goal with 1:37 to play to give the Warriors a 16-15 victory over the Red Knights.

Just one week earlier, Yohn — who never kicked a football before August — missed a pair of extra points and a potential game-winning field goal in Warwick’s razor-thin 27-25 loss to Manheim Township.

Against Reading, Yohn redeemed himself in a big way.

“I absolutely believed he was going to make it,” Warwick coach Bob Locker said. “It was a pretty neat thing to see. You don’t always get a chance the following week to kick another field goal — let alone one as meaningful as that. So it was poetic justice in some ways.”

Yohn, a former soccer player, approached Locker late this past summer and asked if he could try kicking.

And after a successful tryout, voila —  Yohn has been handling all of Warwick’s kicking and punting chores.

Before practice on Monday, Yohn took a couple of minutes to chat about redemption and plenty of other topics while taking on the New Era’s 5 Questions …

YOU PLAYED SOCCER BEFORE, BUT WAS THIS YOUR FIRST GAME-WINNING KICK OF ANY KIND?

“I probably had a game-winner in soccer before, but that was probably in penalty kicks at the end of a game. This was definitely my first game-winning kick in football.”

ANY THOUGHTS OF THE TOWNSHIP GAME BEFORE YOU BOOTED THE GAME-WINNER VS. READING?

“It definitely came into my mind. But when we were driving there at the end, I talked with my kicking coach (Joe Brenner) on the headphones and he told me to just trust my (kicking) swing. I wanted a chance to hit one — even if it wasn’t a game-winner. I just wanted another chance to make one. … It was a really good feeling to make it. It was so different … we went from hanging our heads (against Township) to everyone screaming and jumping around. It brought my confidence back up right away. I think (the coaches) have confidence in me. I think that’s why they put me back out there.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE A GOOD KICK WITHOUT A GOOD SNAP AND A GOOD HOLD. WHO HANDLES THOSE DUTIES FOR YOU GUYS?

“Steve Niemkiewicz is the long snapper and Randy Yost is the holder. It’s going pretty well with those guys. Steve has gotten off a lot of really good snaps, and Randy always gets the ball down quickly and gets it tilted. He does a good job getting the laces out. So it’s been going pretty good.”

IS THERE A KICKER YOU EMULATE?

“I like (Philadelphia’s) David Akers — even though he’s a lefty. And (Jacksonville’s) Josh Scobee is really good. And I like to watch (Indianapolis’) Adam Vinatieri. I like those guys.”

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO GO OUT TO EAT?

“I’m going to say Olive Garden. I like pasta, so that’s one of my favorite places. I get something different there every time we go. I don’t think you can find anything there that’s terrible.”