Ceres High's Kyle Cerny accepted the challenge and succeeded.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior earned Valley Oak League first-team honors for his outstanding play in both varsity boys soccer and football during the fall sports season.
"It's pretty special," he said.
In soccer, Cerny starred at goalkeeper as the Bulldogs posted a 15-4-3 overall record, made history with a Sac-Joaquin Section Divison IV finals appearance and placed second in the league standings (10-1-3).
"It was exciting being in the running for everything," Kyle said.
Cerny had six shutouts, totaled 115 saves and surrendered just 18 goals on the year.
"At practice you always had to go 100 percent or you could lose your spot," he said. "It makes you a better player when you're always competing for your position."
In football, Cerny became the second Bulldog punter to gain VOL recognition in the past two years.
"I was surprised when I got picked," he said. "I had an all right season. I could have done a lot better."
Kyle booted the ball 40 times for 1,159 yards with a career-long punt of 52 yards against city-rival Central Valley. He had five kicks downed inside the 20 and six over 40 yards.
"He did a phenomenal job for us this year," special teams coach Scott Smith said. "He got us out of some tight spots."
Cerny's schedule was overwhelming at times, but he managed to pull through."Right after school, I was
occupied to six or eight o'clock," he said. "It was pretty hectic. I was running around everywhere. My grades were suffering a little bit but I eventually got them up. I never wanted to stop playing because I had so much fun doing both sports at the same time."
For football, Cerny practiced on Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m.
"I'd have him catch 100 snaps and take steps without kicking," Smith said. "Then he'd punt 60-70 times."
Games were held on Fridays.
"He never complained and did everything we asked him to do," Bulldogs head coach Brett Johnson. "He was very dependable."
For soccer, Cerny trained on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., and competed on Tuesdays and Thursdays with games held at 4 or 6:30 p.m.
He also played during the weekends for the nationally-ranked Ceres Earthquakes under-16 Class I competitive boys soccer team.
Kyle obtained a 3.0 grade-point average during the fall semester. He was enrolled in AP U.S. History, English, anatomy, criminal justice and driver's education.
"He worked just as hard in the classroom," Smith said.
Cerny earned a perfect score of 600 on the World History portion of the California Standards Test last spring. He was honored at a Ceres School Board meeting last year.
Fifteen-year-old Kyle is the youngest student in Ceres High's junior class. He skipped fourth grade at Sam Vaughn Elementary School.
"I'm proud of him," Randy Cerny said when talking about his son's accomplishments.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior earned Valley Oak League first-team honors for his outstanding play in both varsity boys soccer and football during the fall sports season.
"It's pretty special," he said.
In soccer, Cerny starred at goalkeeper as the Bulldogs posted a 15-4-3 overall record, made history with a Sac-Joaquin Section Divison IV finals appearance and placed second in the league standings (10-1-3).
"It was exciting being in the running for everything," Kyle said.
Cerny had six shutouts, totaled 115 saves and surrendered just 18 goals on the year.
"At practice you always had to go 100 percent or you could lose your spot," he said. "It makes you a better player when you're always competing for your position."
In football, Cerny became the second Bulldog punter to gain VOL recognition in the past two years.
"I was surprised when I got picked," he said. "I had an all right season. I could have done a lot better."
Kyle booted the ball 40 times for 1,159 yards with a career-long punt of 52 yards against city-rival Central Valley. He had five kicks downed inside the 20 and six over 40 yards.
"He did a phenomenal job for us this year," special teams coach Scott Smith said. "He got us out of some tight spots."
Cerny's schedule was overwhelming at times, but he managed to pull through."Right after school, I was
occupied to six or eight o'clock," he said. "It was pretty hectic. I was running around everywhere. My grades were suffering a little bit but I eventually got them up. I never wanted to stop playing because I had so much fun doing both sports at the same time."
For football, Cerny practiced on Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m.
"I'd have him catch 100 snaps and take steps without kicking," Smith said. "Then he'd punt 60-70 times."
Games were held on Fridays.
"He never complained and did everything we asked him to do," Bulldogs head coach Brett Johnson. "He was very dependable."
For soccer, Cerny trained on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., and competed on Tuesdays and Thursdays with games held at 4 or 6:30 p.m.
He also played during the weekends for the nationally-ranked Ceres Earthquakes under-16 Class I competitive boys soccer team.
Kyle obtained a 3.0 grade-point average during the fall semester. He was enrolled in AP U.S. History, English, anatomy, criminal justice and driver's education.
"He worked just as hard in the classroom," Smith said.
Cerny earned a perfect score of 600 on the World History portion of the California Standards Test last spring. He was honored at a Ceres School Board meeting last year.
Fifteen-year-old Kyle is the youngest student in Ceres High's junior class. He skipped fourth grade at Sam Vaughn Elementary School.
"I'm proud of him," Randy Cerny said when talking about his son's accomplishments.
