JEFFERSON TWP — Kevin Wood will admit he didn't know how big of a role a soccer player could play on the football field.

Three years later, he finally knows.

Wood, who has played soccer since he was 4, will compete to become the kicker at St. Francis (Pa.) University in the fall.

When Knoch football coach Mike King inquired in the spring of Wood's freshman year if he would consider joining the team the following season, Wood was intrigued.

"I knew my dad (Knoch boys soccer coach Doug Wood) played football and I knew he wanted me to play," said Kevin. "I thought it would make him happy and proud."

"I look for kids who gravitate toward football and the type of kids that don't mind doing both sports," King said.

In Wood's first season, he kicked two field goals and 32 extra points for the Knights, who reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals.

"We had a great run my sophomore year," said Kevin. "Every time I went out on the field, making a kick meant something."

As a junior, he made one field goal and nine extra points. But in 2009, Wood nailed six field goals and 17 extra points to finish his varsity career with 85 points.

The elder Wood knew Kevin would have little trouble making the transition because he took the job seriously.

"I thought he would be successful because he worked at it," said coach Wood. "He didn't just kick footballs in the fall. He kicked footballs in the spring. He kicked footballs in the summer. He took footballs on vacation.

"Soccer was primary, but he always wanted to work at (football) and get better, and that's the key," he added.

"Colleges always look for clutch performers, which Kevin is," said King. "The scholarship money is there for football. Soccer has smaller teams and I'm not sure what they have, but the money is probably tougher.

"When Kevin showed up, he was extremely dedicated. He went to camps and when he kicked the ball, it was like a cannon going off," King added.

In the past year, Wood had a decision to make. He was coming off a 14-goal, 13-assist season as a senior forward and was named to the all-section and all-WPIAL soccer teams.

Was he going to choose soccer or football?

For soccer, Slippery Rock University was interested before the season ended last fall, as were a few Penn State branch campuses, Washington & Jefferson College, Westminster and Thiel.

For football, Wood had 15 colleges calling on a weekly basis, but he narrowed the list to SRU, Allegheny College and St. Francis.

Again, which to choose?

"A lot of the football contacts came first and I had to make a decision," Kevin noted. "I got tired of people calling me.

"I wanted to visit all of the (football) schools to give me some options. ... Slippery Rock had another kicker who committed, so that made it easier and it came down to St. Francis and Allegheny."

Wood liked both coaching staffs, but it came down to the money available.

If he beats out the freshman kicker at St. Francis, he'll receive money, which, along with academic grants and scholarships, would cover most of his tuition.

"I look at my potential as endless," said Wood. "It's controlled by one person — me."

"I think the sky's the limit for Kevin," said King. "We had a conversation late in the season and he was getting some nice kickoffs. I told him, 'You're kicking the ball out of sight.' He said, 'I don't have any more Thursday night soccer games.'

"I hadn't thought about that. about that. As he devotes himself full time, I think he could go in right now and be their man," the coach added.