ATWATER — Hilmar High kicker Jacob Sward has a pretty extensive routine before he attempts a field goal.

First, he sets the kicking block on its spot, and gives it a little punch to settle it into the turf. Then he takes three steps back, draws an imaginary line with his hand to visualize the intended path of the ball, moves two steps to his left, and finally rocks back and forth a couple times before giving his holder the go-ahead nod.

That’s why he can’t stand timeouts.

“I hate when the other team ices me,” said Sward, whose 29-yard field goal with four seconds to play lifted the Yellowjackets to a dramatic 24-23 non-conference win over previously unbeaten Atwater — on the Falcons’ homecoming, no less. “My coach told me to just concentrate on my spot during the timeout.”

Sward did exactly that, and it worked. His kick sailed perfectly between the uprights and had plenty of distance, making up for two misses earlier in the contest.

The 6-foot, 160-pound junior was short by an eyelash on a 42-yard attempt midway through the first quarter, then pulled a 35-yard attempt with just 10 seconds remaining in the first half.

Despite the previous misses, Sward was confident in the game’s biggest moment.

“I wasn’t thinking about those kicks at all,” said Sward. “I was just focused on the kick.”

Atwater had taken a 23-21 lead on kicker Trevor Hill’s 40-yard field goal with just over four minutes to play, setting the stage for the Yellowjackets’ 13-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Sward’s heroics.

Hilmar set up shop at the 25, but a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 15. The drive was aided by a pass-interference penalty that put the ball on the ’Jackets 41. Three plays later, Hilmar faced fourth-and-2 on its own 49 with 1:27 to play, and picked up the first down thanks to an Atwater offsides penalty. Faced with another fourth-and-short three plays later, Caden Bailey gained 5 to move the ball to Atwater’s 31. On first down, Hilmar QB Marek Ellerd found Leo Nunes open along the home sideline for a gain of 20 before he stepped out of bounds at the 11 with 24 ticks left on the clock. 

After two pass attempts into the end zone, Marques sent out the kicking unit.

“I had 100 percent confidence,” said Sward. “During halftime, Coach (Frank) Marques came up to me and said he was going to trust me with more kicks. He said he was going to give me another chance. I’m just glad it was to win the game. There’s no better feeling.”

Hilmar improves to 2-1 for the season and would almost certainly be unbeaten if they’d had Bailey for the entire season. The versatile senior made his season debut, coming back from a hamstring injury suffered during track and field season last spring. The 5-10, 180-pound senior carried the ball 16 times for 87 yards and two scores, on runs of 11 and 6 yards. Half of his carries, however, were gains of less than 5 yards, as Atwater keyed on Bailey throughout the contest.

After Bailey staked the Yellowjackets to a 14-0 lead, the Falcons got on the board on Jeremiah De La Rosa’s 9-yard TD run.

The Yellowjackets countered with an eight-play, 76-yard drive that was capped by quarterback Merek Ellerd’s 27-yard scoring strike to Tanner Westmoreland with 4:02 to play in the second quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage, however, Atwater made it a one-score game once more when quarterback Ali Banks hooked up with Sylas Austin for a 90-yard score.

The Falcons forced Hilmar to go three-out on its first possession of the second half, and then scored on their first possession when De La Rosa and Banks connected again, this time on a 57-yard strike, that made it 21-20 after Hill missed the PAT.

“When you look at the kids with varsity experience on this team you can count them on one hand,” said Marques, whose team opens Trans-Valley League play next week at Ripon Christian. “Lot of juniors, lot of sophomores. We matured tonight. We were waiting for that to happen, and they just blossomed right in front of us.”

Senior tight end John Labno was a key target for Ellerd, catching five passes for 94 yards.

Atwater (3-1) was looking for its first 4-0 start since 1998.