Senior Cal Adomitis knows stakes will be high Saturday for Pitt's final home game

They were exhausted and sweaty, soaked and chilled from the steady rain that pelted Heinz Field.

But Pitt seniors Kirk Christodoulou and Cal Adomitis didn’t care. When they finally reached the locker room just before midnight Thursday after Pitt’s 30-23 overtime victory against North Carolina, the two close friends — who come from worlds more than 10,000 miles apart — let go of their emotions.

“We had the biggest rain-covered hug ever,” Adomitis said.

Pitt has, at most, four games left in the season, and only one at home, Saturday against Virginia. No matter how many times anyone says it’s just another game, it’s not.

“It’s the biggest game any of us have played at Heinz Field in our careers,” said Adomitis, the team’s long snapper who will appear in his 61st game Saturday. “We have a chance to clinch that (ACC) Coastal (championship) at home in front of our city, in our stadium.”

Adomitis and Christodoulou are two of 21 senior and super seniors who will be honored by the university before the game.

“The over-arching thing is how blessed I’ve been to have this many years running out of the tunnel at Heinz Field,” said Adomitis, a Central Catholic graduate. “It’s a really a great culmination of a lot of hard work.”

For the second consecutive season, Adomitis has been named a semifinalist for the Mannelly Award, annually presented to the nation’s best long snapper.

Meanwhile, he and Christodoulou, the Australian-born punter and holder, have formed a bond over five seasons. It’s the kind of bond that results from working together for a common cause.

“Kirk’s my guy,” Adomitis said. “Through the years, we’ve just gotten so close with each other. It’s neat, too. There are certain depths of relationships that you can only build going through stressful situations together, and we’ve certainly had our share of stressful times, things that we worked through together.”

Adomitis and Christodoulou, who worked for four years with former kicker Alex Kessman, added walkon Sam Scarton to their inner circle this season. The results have been better than anyone might expect from a sophomore who’s not on scholarship.

Scarton has hit 13 of 16 field-goal attempts (81.3%, a better percentage than Kessman achieved in any of his four seasons).

“He’s definitely absorbed a lot of what Kess did through the years,” Adomitis said. “You can tell he wasn’t just sitting on the sideline twiddling his thumbs. He was paying attention to what Kess was doing.

“He’s done a really good of staying even-keeled. When a field goal gets blocked (it happened Thursday against North Carolina), someone’s getting yelled at, but you just have to take it for what it is and reset yourself. He does a really good job of that.”

Scarton recovered to hit a crucial extra-point kick in overtime.

Adomitis is that rare special teams player who has ascended to a leadership role on a veteran team.

Special teams coach Andre Powell, who’s been a coach through 34 collegiate seasons, hasn’t seen many players like him. In fact, he’s seen only one other.

“I’ve only had two specialists,” he said, “that rose to the leadership roles that Cal has: Brad Craddock at Maryland (an Australian who kicked at Maryland from 2012 to 2015).”

“Guys respect other guys who work hard, make their craft as perfect as they can, who are always where they’re supposed to be early, do what they’re supposed to do, work hard. You don’t have to seek leadership roles when you do those types of things. The leadership roles come to you, and that’s what Cal’s done.”

Adomitis can do more than zip a ball accurately and swiftly through his legs. He has used recent name, image and likeness legislation to help raise money for child cancer care at Children’s Hospital.

If he is able to raise $94,000 by the end of the season, Adomitis, who wears No. 94, has promised to allow the young patients to cut his signature long, blonde hair. The ceremony will take place at Heinz Field sometime in December, and the children also will get a tour of the Pitt locker room from members of the team.

As of Tuesday evening, the count stood at $90,000 from 618 donors.

“It feels great to have an opportunity to do something meaningful,” he said.