As Yale matchup approaches, Ng reflects on record-setting career

In fifth-year senior placekicker Derek Ng’s distinguished Holy Cross football career, two of his most notable moments have come in matchups against Yale, as he has hit two-game winning field goals in three career contests against the Bulldogs. As the Crusaders prepare to host Yale at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, Ng reflects on his record-setting career — and how he’s grown since his highlight-reel moment more than four years ago.

September 15, 2018. Holy Cross 28, Yale 28. Overtime. Placekicker Derek Ng, just a rookie at the time, lined up for the potential game-winning 45-yard field goal. All eyes on him, in his first home game, and in the first home game of head coach Bob Chesney’s tenure at Holy Cross. No pressure, right?

But actually, Ng said, he felt no pressure at all. He was calm, cool and collected. On the sideline, during a timeout, Chesney embraced him, and gave him words of reassurance. 

“It’s nothing, if you miss this one, we do it again, and you'll make the next one,” Ng recalls Chesney telling him. “So that took all the pressure away from it.”

Of course, he didn’t want to have to worry about doing it again. And within a split second after he kicked it, he knew it was time to celebrate, even before it went through the uprights.

“I remember kicking the ball, watching, like, the first second of it, and then taking off to the bench,” he said. “And everyone else was still trying to figure out if it went in.”

It was Ng’s first time playing in a Crusader victory, and since then, he’s been a part of 26 more Holy Cross wins and counting. Ng has established himself as a confident, reliable, consistent member of the Crusader squad. His success at Holy Cross has been long-standing — with 37 career field goals, Ng is tied for the most makes in program history. His 135 career PATs are also the most in program history. He owns the three longest field goals in program history, with a 51-yard kick during the Spring 2021 season sitting as the school record. Since 2018, no other Holy Cross player has attempted a field goal besides Ng himself. 

Ng grew up playing soccer for years, and gave football, specifically kicking, a try after a friend suggested he had the leg for it. It was a natural fit, and earned him a spot playing collegiate football.

“It’s year eight of kicking,” he said, “and I still love it. Even though it’s the same thing over and over, you can learn from it every day.” 

While playing for a nationally ranked team — with nationally televised games — at Bishop Gorman High School, Ng learned quickly to embrace the spotlight.

“I had to grow up really fast playing for them,” Ng said. "There was no such thing as too big of a moment — because you had to do it in that moment, or else you could lose the game.”

“I think that that pressure, that early in my career, helped me a lot. And here, in practice, you’re surrounded, you have the whole team yelling at you, when you have to make this kick. I think we do it so many times that it's like there's no pressure for me anymore — because I know I have the full ability to make every kick.”

September 18, 2021. Holy Cross 17, Yale 17. 48 seconds left. This one was a 47-yard attempt for Ng, certainly below his career best of 51 that he’d set during the spring season prior. It would be for the win, and Holy Cross had erased a two-touchdown deficit earlier to even things up and be in a position to win. Ng — again, as calm, cool and collected as ever — didn’t think twice about the circumstances.

“It was just a normal field goal for me,” he said. 

The kick was good, and it gave the Crusaders a 20-17 lead. On the ensuing Yale drive, safety Walter Reynolds picked off the Bulldogs’ first pass attempt to seal the victory with 40 seconds remaining. Ng had put the Crusaders in a position to win, and Reynolds had sealed it. 

When Ng is set to kick a field goal, he doesn’t calculate the distance — he’d rather not know. He allows his holder, senior Patrick Haughney, to lead him directly to the spot, and puts full trust in Haughney to put the ball where he needs it. Haughney has been holding for Ng for three years, and the two work in sync — all Ng needs to look at is the spot, and then the posts after that.

Ng has built a brother-like relationship not only with Haughney, but his other teammates as well. He’s become a mentor to the younger specialists on the team, which in turn, he says, has helped him grow as a football player.

Though Ng has been dazzling since his first game at Fitton in 2018, he’s done nothing but get better and better. And even with numerous records and accolades under his belt, there’s still even more room to grow.

“Strength wise, I've definitely gotten stronger, and I’ve probably gained 10, 15 yards of distance,” he said. “But I think the biggest thing is the mental piece. I really think that kicking is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical. If you can keep calm, and go with the flow and be mature in moments that are big — that's when you find the great ones. And that's what I'm trying to get to.”

September 17, 2022. Ng and the Crusaders ride into this week’s contest at Fitton Field with plenty of positive momentum after earning a thrilling 37-31 upset over FBS foe Buffalo that captured national attention. Ng went 4-for-4 on PATs in the contest and hit a fourth-quarter field goal that gave Holy Cross its first lead of the game; he was named the Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week for the seventh time in his career as a result. 

The celebration was short-lived for Holy Cross, however, and attention shifted quickly to the task at hand: a perennially daunting opponent in the Bulldogs. 

“We're going to ride the victory, and work harder because we know this Yale team is going to be very good,” Ng said. “They've been good every year. That's why it comes down to a field goal every time. But I think we're going to be focused, and we're going to bring it one-on-one in this one.”

But what about the possibility of it coming down to a late field goal this year, yet again? 

“I wouldn't doubt it,” Ng said with a smile. “That'd be really funny.”

TALKING POINTS VS. YALE…

• After an accolade-filled week – that included junior quarterback Matthew Sluka earning National Offensive Player of the Week honors – the Crusaders will be at home for the first time in 2022 after a 2-0 start to the year. 
• Through Holy Cross’ first two games, the team has averaged 479.5 total yards of offense per game, including 231 rushing yards per game. 
• The Crusaders moved up in this week’s national polls; Holy Cross was 12th in the AFCA Coaches’ Poll and 13th in the Stats Perform media poll. 
• This will be Yale’s first game of the 2022 campaign. A year ago, the Bulldogs finished with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in Ivy League play. Quarterback Nolan Grooms returns, a season after leading the Bulldogs with 1,569 passing yards and 14 touchdown passes in 10 games and five starts. Junior defensive tackle Clay Patterson was named an Associated Press Third Team All-American and a HERO Sports Sophomore All-America honoree a season ago.