Texas Southern kicker Miguel Arana III delivers in clutch

Written by David Hill

Kicking a walk-off field goal to win a football game is a kicker’s dream.

It’s a dream Texas Southern University freshman kicker Miguel Arana III thought about just one day before the Tigers faced Southern University in their Homecoming game at Reliant Stadium.

“The day before, I was in the hotel, and I just kind of thought to myself and told my teammate Ernest (Goodwin), like, ‘Imagine kicking a game-winner on homecoming in an NFL stadium,’” Arana said.

That imagined scenario became reality on game day. With the score tied at 21 and one second left in regulation, the Tigers relied on a 46-yard attempt from Arana to secure a pivotal win against a conference opponent.

Just before the ball was snapped on his first attempt, Southern called for a timeout and stopped the play. However, Arana converted the kick even though it didn’t count, giving him confidence mentally going into his second attempt.

“I approached it with the mentality of seeing myself making it. I feel like I already made it, so that’s how I stayed calm. Once the next try came, I was like, ‘I’m a do the exact same thing the second time,’ and did just that,” Arana said.

After his kick sailed through the goalposts for the second consecutive attempt as time expired, Arana sprinted across the field in excitement as numerous teammates chased after him, looking to embrace him in celebration. The scoreboard read: Tigers 24, Jaguars 21.

It was the experience of a lifetime for Arana.

“It was crazy, honestly. It felt surreal,” said Arana, who earned SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors following his heroics in the Homecoming win. “Playing in Reliant Stadium and kicking a game-winner for Homecoming. I was excited for sure.”

Moments before the game-winning kick, TSU coach Cris Dishman imparted some sage words to his young kicker after Southern predictably tried to freeze him out.

“He went to the net and started kicking, and I just told him to get himself ready to make the game-winning field goal,” Dishman said.

The confidence in his ability to make that kick was built long before his freshman season began. Arana graduated early from Crawford High School in Rosharon, skipping the 2026 spring semester to join TSU for spring practices.

His dedication to improving his skill set in practice gave kicking and cornerbacks coach Derwin Wilson faith in his young kicker when it mattered most.

“I’m very confident in Miguel because he harps on his technique a lot. Before he went out, I just tapped him on his head and said, ‘Stay within yourself and trust your technique.’” Wilson said. “We practice those situations a lot throughout the week, and he just goes out and consistently does the same thing.

“He came in early and did spring ball with us; he was very consistent in the spring, making 50 and 55 yarders. He showed us he has a reflex, and we’re very confident anytime we have to send him on the field.”

Not every kick went as well. Some days, the kicks didn’t split uprights like Arana expected, but his teammates continued to believe in him, knowing they would need him come game time.

“We weren’t expecting it to come down to a field goal, but we knew that Miguel was going to make that kick just off the fact that we go over that thing every day in practice,” TSU running back Athean Renfro said. “When we go through that scenario in practice, and we done went all the way down the field and say he miss, knowing we need them three points and knowing he here to just make those three points, after he miss, I’ll say to him, ‘Aye, we need them three points. It’s going to be a situation where you’re going to have to make that.’ And right before the Southern game, I had told him that, and God just let it happen.”

That moment would not have been possible without a risk Arana took early in his athletic career.

Before arriving at TSU, Arana spent two years as a kicker for his high school team at Crawford. The Rosharon native played soccer for 13 years before transitioning to football, receiving offers from multiple Division I colleges to play soccer.

However, a conversation with his father ultimately changed his direction in sports.

“My dad told me, ‘Hey, why don’t you just go and try out kicking for fun in your junior year?’ So I went, and I just fell in love with it and felt like I was actually like really good at this,” Arana said. “I kept continuing it and kept progressing, and senior year was honestly a big season for me. Statistically wise, I had a pretty insane high school year, and so at that point, I was like, ‘Man, I want to go all in on this.’ So I started focusing on football after that, and then that led me to Texas Southern.”

With a crucial stretch of games approaching Texas Southern, Arana’s kicking ability is expected to remain an important part of the team’s success. Building on this moment rather than allowing it to define him will be important as he and the Tigers move forward.

Through the first eight games of the season, Arana ranked fourth in the SWAC after converting 10 of 13 field goal attempts, which included a long of 48 yards. He was also 7-for-7 in field goal attempts between 40-48 yards for the season.

In addition to the game-winner against Southern, he followed that up with a 47-yard field goal conversion in the second quarter against Grambling State, which proved crucial in the Tigers’ 23-20 win.

“I told him don’t be no one-hit wonder, stay humble,” Renfro said. “Don’t let that one kick define who you are.”

“His character has been there. I tell him just don’t be too high or too low; he got to stay like, even kill. We still got a few games to play.”

Although Arana understands the expectations surrounding him, he does not view them as pressure. Instead, he sees them as another opportunity to prove he can perform at a high level and achieve individual milestones.

“I want to be known as somebody that can execute. I feel like the high-level performers are people that have always had these high expectations on them. I don’t really take it as pressure; I just take it as opportunity,” Arana said

“I feel happy that you know, they have that confidence in me to go out there and keep doing this. I have goals, and I want to achieve them, and I feel like that’s a big thing, to be First Team All-SWAC, FCS All-American, and Freshman All-American.”