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Trevor Romaine

(Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

CORVALLIS -- The fatigue settled in over the past five weeks.

As the errant field goal attempts mounted, Trevor Romaine’s mind started wandering. The weary Oregon State kicker imagined taking a break from football, a respite he figured could ease his frustrations and trigger a return to form.

“I’m ready for the season to be over,” Romaine said after practice Tuesday. “I just need to step away from it. … I will be ready for next season. I just need a couple weeks, a month away from this.”

Alejandro Maldonado can relate. The Oregon kicker, after all, contemplated quitting the sport altogether after missing a key field goal in an Oct. 26 win over UCLA. It was nearly the breaking point in a college career marred by miscues, death threats and a chorus of boos.

So Romaine prefers to contact Maldonado when kicking grows burdensome. The Ducks senior understands the unique pressures that come with kicking on the Pac-12 stage, Romaine reasons. The friends, who will face each other as opponents for the third straight year in Friday’s Civil War, share a deep-rooted bond built around common setbacks as well as common successes.

“It’s nice to know you have someone who’s going to always be in your corner,” Romaine said.

The friendship sprouted before their sophomore year of high school. Romaine and Maldonado, two promising kickers and punters from neighboring counties outside Los Angeles, attended the same summer kicking camp each Saturday for 10 weeks.

It didn’t take long for them to emerge as their age group’s top specialists. Within a couple visits, they challenged each other to one-on-one battles. Other campers lined up to see who could split the uprights from the farthest distance. Sometimes it was Romaine. Sometimes it was Maldonado.

As weeks passed, the rivals developed a keen understanding of each other’s individual quirks. They learned the specific amount of steps each player took before winding up to kick field goals. They noticed the precise location of each player’s “sweet spot,” the ideal area for shoe to meet football. They pinpointed the exact angle each player wanted the ball positioned.

The intricate knowledge came with deep insight. Romaine and Maldonado started noticing minor flaws in each other’s routine. During that first summer camp, each standout developed into a personal coach of sorts. Division I ambitions left little room for bruised egos.

“We criticized each other really well,” Maldonado said. “No matter what, it was always about making each other better. It was always about getting the best out of one another.”

Camp ended. Romaine drew crowds with his monstrous leg for the Centennial High School Huskies. About 23 miles northeast, Maldonado did the same with the Colton High School Yellowjackets.

And that’s how the cycle went the next two years. During football season, Romaine and Maldonado mainly tracked each other's career through newspaper articles and All-County lists. They reconnected in person come summer, using the same camp as a venue to help refine their skills.

“Alejandro committed to Oregon last second (in February 2010), and I was going here,” Romaine said. “So we just kind of kept in touch because we’re in the same state.”

The Beaver endured a host of miscues as a freshman starting kicker in 2011. In his first college game, Romaine’s 27-yard field goal clanged off the left upright to force overtime in an eventual loss to FCS Sacramento State. The Beavers slogged through a three-win campaign. Frustrated fans lambasted Romaine for hitting only 68 percent of his field goals.

A short trek down Interstate 5, Maldonado grappled with his own contingent of furious “supporters.” Ducks diehards berated, booed and even threatened to kill the kicker for missing a 37-yarder on the final play of a 38-35 loss to USC. The errant attempt could’ve kept Oregon out of the national championship game, some fans believed.

Maldonado and Romaine exchanged texts often during that tumultuous year. They asked each other for advice. They reminisced about the “the good ol’ days” of high school football, when kicking was simple and fun.

Such sessions have become more sporadic the past two years. Romaine and Maldonado, more comfortable in their abilities, are less dependent on outside support when enduring kicking ruts.

But Romaine felt compelled to contact his longtime friend in early November after reading an article in The Oregonian. The piece detailed a fragile moment during halftime of the Ducks' win over UCLA a week earlier. Moments removed from yet another crucial missed field goal, Maldonado questioned his role on an undefeated team. He pondered the prospect of quitting football.

So Romaine offered his support in the form of a text message: How're you doing? Hope everything's all right.

Maldonado assured him of as much. Romaine’s season, which was crumbling after a solid start, soon became the chief conversation topic. Since hitting five of his first six field goal attempts in 2013, Romaine was connecting on only about 50 percent of his bids. Annoyed with students’ continuous insults on Twitter, he challenged followers to “show me how to kick.”

Maldonado offered his go-to words of advice. Don't worry about all that. You're a good kicker. Remember how simple it all is.

Of course, putting a derailed season back on track is no easy task for a kicker. Romaine has missed 1-of-2 field goals and an extra point since texting Maldonado a few weeks ago. At this point, he isn’t quite sure how to fix the problems. Part of it is the snapping. Part of it is his sudden inability to make contact with his “sweet spot” on the ball.

But Romaine realizes that the season won’t end just because he wants a break. So he’ll try to hit necessary kicks Friday. He’ll try to help the Beavers nab their first Civil War victory since 2007.

First, though, he plans to track down Maldonado during warm-ups. Texting conversations only suffice for so long.

“It’ll be good to see him,” said Maldonado, who lost the starting kicking job after the UCLA win and now serves solely as Oregon’s punter. “It’s been a while.”

-- Connor Letourneau