Perhaps the only thing more challenging than combining academics with sports is combining academics with two sports.

But that’s what senior Brandon Religa did this fall.

Religa, a four-year soccer player at Manhattan High, fused soccer and football for his senior season. He served as the kicker on the football team on top of playing center back for the soccer squad, which fell just short of Washburn Rural at sub-state.

He said he attempted to join the football team last year as a kicker, but it was too late by the time he began to make arrangements. This year, however, was different.

“I wanted to be a part of more than one Varsity sport here at Manhattan,” Religa said. “I wanted to use myself in soccer, but I also wanted to contribute in football with my leg.”

Much is made about how straining spending time in the classroom and at practice can be. Religa’s experiences were much the same.

“It started out fine. Eventually, it started weighing on me a little bit,” he said. “Classes started getting a little bit more difficult. It was kind of difficult for me to keep up. I mowed on the weekends. That took a lot of my time and energy.”

Despite only kicking in a handful of football games due to injuries, Religa said he took away valuable lessons from head coach Joe Schartz.

“I learned a lot from him in the whole process of game preparation through practice,” Religa said. “He’s a really motivational guy.”

Because of his efforts in the two sports and in the classroom, Religa made it to the state finalist stage of the Wendy’s High School Heisman program. The organization teams up with the Heisman Trophy Trust to recognize roughly 5,000 high school seniors who “excel in learning, performing, and leading in the classroom, on the field and in the community,” according to its website.

He said he appreciated the recognition but, more or less, took it with a grain of salt.

“It was pretty neat,” Religa said. “I just didn’t think much of it because it’s such a big national idea.”