Ryan Chalifoux was a three-sport athlete in his time at Champaign (Illinois) Central High School.

He ran track in the spring, but during the fall he played soccer and kicked for the football team, splitting his time between the two.

Chalifoux wasn’t one of the soccer players who showed up to games after limited practice time to kick extra points and field goals. He was at everything, said Tim Turner, the head football coach at Champaign Central.

He remembers vividly when Chalifoux left a soccer game to make the football team's game against crosstown rival Centennial. He arrived in the third quarter, swung his leg a few times to warm up and immediately changed the game.

With a nonexistent kicking game, the two teams were locked in a tight duel. But with "Chalifoot," as Turner sometimes called him, the Maroons turned things around.

"We didn't have much by way of extra points or anything. He shows up and the extra points start falling," Turner said. "Now we are getting touchbacks instead of kicking the ball to the 30-yard line. That changed that game around."

Bowl predictions:This matchup isn't likely to happen, but here are other U of L options

Chalifoux, a redshirt sophomore at Louisville, hasn’t had to balance soccer with football games for years now. He’s been practicing with Louisville and waiting for his chance to make a similar impact, but on the college level.

He no longer has to wait.

With the news of Blanton Creque tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament, Chalifoux is expected to be Louisville’s starting kicker the rest of the season.

It might be hard to live up to Creque’s status as the most accurate kicker in program history. Creque, a redshirt senior, made 51 field goals in his Louisville career, which ranks third all-time in the program's history. He also completed 82.3% of his kicks.

That's a high bar for the Chalifoux.

Still, Turner believes Chalifoux will make a name for himself in time.

"Any time you start as a walk-on and are then thrust into the limelight there's certainly going to be pressure, but he’s put himself in a position to have some success,” Turner said. “With this being one of those big moments all eyes are on him, especially in Louisville. I think he’ll rise to that instead of shrink to that."

Before Chalifoux joined the Maroons football team, Turner said they struggled to find a consistent kicker who could balance the time between football and soccer. Chalifoux’s arrival not only gave the team a dedicated kicker, but one who could make an impact.

Check out:Forgot who Louisville has in its 2020 recruiting class? Here's a list

“He wasn’t a kid that just went through the motions. He came to practice and did the things he was supposed to do,” Turner said.

Turner believes that if a high school team doesn't have somebody who can kick the ball out of the end zone, then you might as well kick an onside kick.

"You probably have just as good of a chance to onside kick it,” he said.

So that’s what the Maroons did until Chalifoux joined the team. The 6-foot-1 kicker gave them a weapon that added extra layers to their game plan. The team had a consistent threat for a touchback and ran a three-kicker system, Turner said.

"Teams wouldn’t have a clue what we were doing because we could put it in the end zone or onside kick it if we wanted to,” he said.

In his senior year, Chalifoux was an all-area honoree and made 4-of-5 field goals. Along with being a reliable presence, Turner said Chalifoux wasn't intimidated in pressure situations, either.

"He’s never been a kid to shy away from big moments,” he said.

Louisville football:What does Jordan Watkins' commitment mean?

Though slightly overlooked in the win over Virginia, Chalifoux’s first extra point, which came in the fourth quarter, was a crucial one. It gave the Cardinals a 14-point lead, which could’ve been a factor had the Cavaliers scored on their final drive. He also had a 61-yard kickoff following the extra point.

With Creque out for the season, Chalifoux is now in line to get many more kicking opportunities. Originally, he was planning to play soccer in college instead of football.

Entering his senior year in high school, he changed his mind and applied to U of L and walked on to the team.

When the Cardinals take the field Nov. 9 in Miami, he will play a crucial role. He’ll be asked to fill the shoes of one of the best kickers in program history.

He won’t have to travel from a soccer game to get there.

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.