Bowl dream

5-foot-7 kicker Darmstadter brings huge goals to new football home

COLLEGE PARK – Shortly after Henry Darmstadter’s arrival at Georgetown four years ago, special teams coach Kevin Doherty wasn’t exactly sure who the stocky redheaded kicker was.

“The coach hadn’t learned all the names and he referred to Henry as ‘The Keebler Elf,’ ” Darmstadter’s father, Andrew, recalled this week. “They thought, ‘Who is this little guy?’ ”

Darmstadter’s nickname eventually disappeared as his status in the program grew. By the time the 5-foot-7, 183-pound kicker graduated in May, he had set the school record for field goals and field-goal percentage.

Having sat out as a freshman, Darmstadter still had a year’s eligibility remaining. Because the Patriot League doesn’t allow redshirts, he had to find a new home.

His parents were not exactly thrilled with their older son’s decision to prolong his career by transferring to Maryland and put off taking one of a “handful” of job offers the economics major had received.

“I said, ‘Henry, your mother and I want you to get a job,’ ” said Andrew Darmstadter, a professional investor. “I said, ‘You’ve done so well [at Georgetown], it’s very likely that you’re going to leave college with a bad experience. You might not get on the team, you might not contribute, this and that. And he said, ‘Dad, I just want a chance.’ ”

Getting onto the Maryland campus a few weeks before the start of preseason practice, Darmstadter was stopped at lunch one day by Rick Court, the team’s strength and conditioning coach.

“He said, ‘You need to start telling people you’re a kicker on the football team, because I had a few people ask me, ‘Who is new student manager?’ ” Darmstadter recalled with a laugh Wednesday.

Those who follow the Terps might not have heard of Darmstadter until he replaced senior Adam Greene (Broadneck) and made a school-record nine point-after-touchdowns in a 63-17 home win over Towson on Sept. 9.

Yet the most attention Darmstadter received came Saturday, when he made a career-best 51-yard field goal as time expired in the first half of a 31-24 win at Minnesota.

Just as the Terps understand that the challenge will be much greater this week at 10th-ranked Ohio State, Darmstadter knows that playing in “The Horseshoe” with over 100,000 fans will be much different.

It will certainly not be anything close to