Sam Snodgrass lines up for another corner. His teammates have been playing them short all night, and he’s been yelling at them to whip it into the box. This time, they listen.
The ball came in toward the back post. A teammate headed it back across goal. Snodgrass saw it hanging in the air, back to goal, and went for it. The bicycle kick he'd been attempting every season at Massillon Washington High School but never scored. Even as his body twisted and his foot made contact, one thought ran through his head: "This isn't going in."
It went in.
Top corner. His first-ever goal for the Tigers. Against Hillsdale, in a game Massillon would win 6-1, most of the goals coming in a second-half surge after conceding early.
Snodgrass had been practicing bicycle kicks for years. Attempting them in games, too, whenever the chance appeared. None of them ever found the net. Until this one did, on a September night in Ohio, recorded on Veo and now submitted for this year's People's Puskas, which spotlights the best goals scored away from the biggest arenas.
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The wait for the upload
After the final whistle, Snodgrass couldn't stop thinking about it. He checked his phone every five minutes waiting for the film to upload.
"I was honestly so happy that it got captured on video," Snodgrass says. "I remember after the game just checking like every 5 minutes to see if the film had been uploaded yet."
When it finally appeared, he clipped the goal immediately and put it on TikTok. Then he watched it again. And again. Each viewing somehow better than the last, the shock of actually scoring his first goal for Massillon still fresh.
The goal itself is clean. The header drops perfectly across the six-yard box, Snodgrass connects flush on the bicycle kick, and it flies into the net before the goalkeeper can react. No deflection, no controversy. Just execution on something he'd been trying to pull off for years.
The email that almost made him dance
A few weeks later, Snodgrass was sitting in class when the email came through. His goal had been submitted for the People's Puskas.
"Honestly, when I read the email at first I was so shocked," Snodgrass says. "Like if I wasn't in class I would've jumped up and danced."
He's watched the goal back many times since. The amazement hasn't worn off. It's his first goal for the Tigers, scored with a technique he'd been attempting without success for three seasons. The kind of moment that justifies all the failed attempts, all the near-misses, all the times it looked ridiculous instead of brilliant.
"I am always so amazed and surprised at it since it's my first goal for my team ever," Snodgrass says.
Why it matters
For Snodgrass, having this moment captured means more than just being able to watch it back. It changes how he thinks about what's possible on the pitch.
"It means a lot to me because it makes me want to do more of the unthinkable," Snodgrass says. "Just that thought in my head that if I do something amazing that people will actually witness it just makes me want to do it more."
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That's what separates this from just scoring a nice goal in a high school game and moving on. Snodgrass now has proof that the bicycle kick he'd been working on actually works. That the thing he kept trying, season after season, could eventually come off.
Massillon Washington High School plays Division 1 football in Ohio. Snodgrass waited three seasons to score his first goal for them. When it finally happened, it was a bicycle kick off a corner kick that went exactly where he'd pictured it going every time he tried and failed before.
Three years of attempts. One connection. Top corner.
Can you beat that?
