BOONE, N.C. — After
Chandler Staton converted the 53-yard field goal, energetic Appalachian State teammate
Devan Stringer made sure to congratulate the cool-headed kicker.
Their long-standing connection can be traced back to 1991, when two aspiring firefighters in Gainesville, Ga., developed a friendship that has grown throughout their extended time together as members of the same department.
Chandler's father, John, a shift captain, and Devan's father, David, an inspector, have both worked at the Gainesville Fire Department since they went through drills at the same rookie school 26 years ago.
"We were partners and just hit it off," John said.
Fast forward to 2017, and they both have sons making significant contributions to App State's football team. The Mountaineers (6-4, 5-1 Sun Belt) face Georgia State (6-3, 5-1) in a first-place showdown Saturday in Atlanta, which is about an hour southwest of Gainesville.
A senior linebacker, Devan returned from injury to make his 40th career start in a 27-6 win against Georgia Southern on Nov. 9. A redshirt freshman kicker, Chandler improved to 5-for-5 on field goals by making two more, including a 53-yard attempt that gave the Mountaineers a 10-3 halftime lead.
A preferred walk-on, Chandler committed to App State without taking a visit to campus, in part because the Statons were familiar with the program through their friendship with Devan and his father.
"He said he loved the school," Chandler said. "I signed papers and decided before I ever visited or had ever been there. I didn't have any offers, and Coach called up and said, 'Do you want to go to App State —D-1?' That's the atmosphere I wanted to be in."
The families are close enough that Chandler and Devan both refer to the father of their Gainesville-based teammate as an "uncle."
John, who enjoys sports photography, frequently took pictures at Devan's youth games. When Chandler was a youth football player, David gave him Devan's old shoulder pads.
Chandler began his high school career at North Georgia Christian playing eight-man football on a home field with only one set of uprights, meaning teams had to switch ends to execute some kicks, and he arrived at Gainesville High School right after Stringer's graduation.
Chandler's 48-yard field goal for the Red Elephants during a 29-26 rivalry win against Flowery Branch in 2015 stood as his career long until he took the field in Kidd Brewer Stadium with three seconds left in the first half and the ball resting on Georgia Southern's 35-yard line earlier this month.
The Mountaineers appeared content to enter halftime with a 7-3 lead as they let the clock run before a third-and-9 snap from their own 21, but quarterback
Taylor Lamb's 44-yard keeper into Georgia Southern territory forced Chandler to leave the sideline with unexpected urgency.
The Eagles called a timeout in an attempt to ice him.
"Whenever we go on offense, I start getting ready where, if some big play does happen, you're ready to go out and hit the PAT," he said. "I was ready to hit the PAT, but that's probably the most I had warmed up for. I wasn't completely loose by any means, and I enjoyed the timeout that they called because it let me loosen up a little bit."
Elias McMurry delivered the snap, and
Rylee Critcher put down the hold. Chandler, wearing the No. 91 previously used by Rylee's brother, Bentlee, drilled the kick with distance to spare.
He was mobbed by teammates and coaches, including head coach
Scott Satterfield, and Chandler added another field goal early in the third quarter. He hit tying and tiebreaking attempts at UMass in his Oct. 28 debut as a field goal kicker and also converted a 35-yard attempt in a Nov. 4 game at ULM.
Whether or not a kick sails through the uprights, Chandler credits his family's deep, generational ties to firefighting with helping him take a calm approach to high-pressure situations. Just as firemen don't run up to the scene of a car accident because they want to take in the complete scene before acting,
Chandler told the Winston-Salem Journal, he walks to the spot on the field where he'll start his approach and takes a deep breath before mentally going through his checklist.
"He's a guy that doesn't let things bother him," Satterfield said. "In practice, if he misses one, it doesn't faze him. He gets right back up and kicks the next one and kicks it in there. I like the way he doesn't let things bother him."
As a non-scholarship player who pays out-of-state tuition, Chandler returned to Boone this year right before the start of fall classes. He had spent most of the summer in Georgia working for his father's gutter company — "It was a hot summer," Chandler said with a smile — and he had some catching up to do once he rejoined teammates who already had been back on campus.
At a position characterized by emotional highs and lows, he's performed well and maintained his even-keeled demeanor, which can be in stark contrast to Devan's vocal, energetic disposition.
"I used to go back and watch them play at my old high school, and seeing him get better and better and be ready when his opportunity was called, it makes me so proud," Devan said. "I'm always there to celebrate with him after he kicks. It's great having somebody who is from where you're from that you knew growing up."
