GROVE CITY - Andy Hay isn't just a soccer player who happens to kick a football on a Friday night.

The senior is also one of the fastest players on the Grove City High School football team and isn't shy about mixing it up on kick coverage.

Only a shoulder injury suffered while wrestling with his brother prevented Hay from making a bigger impact this season for the Eagles.

"That's the thing about him. The kids respect him," said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. "They respect him as a football player because he worked out with us all summer. He's not just a kicker."

Even though Hay couldn't throw himself into the fray this season, he has made enough of an impact with his right leg to make that a bit easier.

Against North East in the first round of the District 10 Class AA playoffs last Saturday, Hay booted a 27-yard field goal in overtime that gave the Eagles the win. The kick came after he had an extra point blocked and another one partially blocked earlier in the game.

If he is called upon this week as Grove City plays Harbor Creek at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the district championship, Hay will be ready.

To Bell and Grove City, Hay is a lethal weapon not usually found in the high school ranks.

"If you get the ball to the 30, he can make it," Bell said.

Hay, who has been kicking for Grove City since quarterback Jim Jaskowak talked him into giving it a try when they were both sophomores, has a career long field goal of 39 yards.

He made four field goals this season and also connected on 31 extra points.

Hay said the outer reach of his range is about 51 yards - the distance of his longest boot in practice from a snap and hold. He can make one longer off a tee.

Against North East, he almost had a chance to put his range to the test as Bell contemplated trying a free kick after a Grape Picker punt with nine seconds left in regulation.

Instead, Hay settled for a more mundane 27-yarder in overtime.

After having some trouble kicking in the first half, Hay calmly booted the game winner.

Nothing to it, he said.

"I guess I've been doing it for awhile, so it is easier to block all that out," Hay said. "The best way to think about it is not to think about it."

Hay has been honing his kicking skills with former Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Matt Bahr the last two summers.

"I've learned a lot from him," Hay said. "A lot. The biggest thing he taught me was to be calm. You have a lot more time than you think."

Bahr also taught Hay to treat every kick, from the one in practice to the one at the end of the game, like it could be a game-winner.

That approach has served Hay well.

But Bell tries his best to soothe his kicker's psyche in other ways.

One of those ways is to debunk an old perception that the kicker can decide the outcome of a game by himself.

"I've always believed a kicker can win a game, he can't lose one," Bell said. "There are 100 plays that happen before the end of the game that can lose it for you. A kicker can only win one for you."

Bell wanted to use Hay more at wide receiver and as a kick returner this season, but the dislocated shoulder and torn rotator cuff suffered just days before two-a-days started derailed that idea.

"He's a great athlete," Bell said. "We time guys in the (100-yard dash) and some guys start out fast for the first 50 yards and then fade. Andy can sustain that speed."

Hay is a standout soccer player as well. He is a three-time Butler Eagle Elite-11 selection, but he missed six games early this season because of the shoulder injury.

He still finished with 10 goals and 13 assists for Grove City.

Hay plans to play soccer in college, but he hasn't ruled out possibly kicking for the football team at the school he chooses as well.

"I definitely don't want to shut the door on anything," Hay said.