In a winless football season that had few ups and even more downs, 19-year-old sophomore Manny Hernandez stood out for his exceptional play and has been named City College’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Despite the team’s disappointing season, the six-foot 224-pound linebacker led the state in tackles for a second consecutive year with an average of 12.9 per game.
“It’s kind of trippy,” said Hernandez. “As an athlete you don’t assume that someone’s going to nominate you to be male athlete of the year. I just do what I did on the field because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
The former San Marcos High stand-out received first-team All-American Pacific Conference honors both of his years at City College. He was also named the All-American Pacific Conference Defensive Player of the Week three times this season and five times in the past two seasons.
He finished this season with 103 tackles to go along with 4 forced fumbles and 2 sacks in 8 games. He missed 2 games due to injury.
“I’ve seen a lot of good athletes in the athletic program here and to be named athletic player of the year is a real accomplishment,” said head coach Craig Moropoulos.
Hernandez’s impressive play garnered him a scholarship at Glenville State College, a Division II school in West Virginia.
“It’s exciting,” Hernandez said. “I’m just happy because without football I probably wouldn’t have been able to go over there.”
There he will major in Biology in hopes of becoming a physical therapist. That is, of course, if his dream of playing professional football doesn’t pan out.
“I’m hoping that I get another opportunity at the next level whether that be arena football, Canadian football, or the NFL,” he said. “If I could stay in the sport as long as I could, I would.”
Apart from his usual position at linebacker, Hernandez was also the team’s punter for a majority of games the past two seasons. It was a position he played at San Marcos High and hopes to continue playing at Glenville.
“It was good experience,” he said. “It’s something I’m going to try and do at the four-year and see if I can keep this status as linebacker and punter.”
Hernandez first started playing football at the age of 6. The decision to start playing wasn’t his, but rather his fathers’.
“I didn’t like it [football] in the beginning of 6th grade just because of all the work. But then I started to fall in love with it,” said Hernandez. “I love the atmosphere and the team spirit that comes with the game.”
When asked about his experience at City College, Hernandez had nothing but good things to say.
“You get the best of both worlds. You get the fun side and the real-life side of school,” he said. “It was a great experience playing here.”
Although Hernandez’s talent will certainly be missed on the field next season, coach Moropolous wished him nothing but the best.
“We’re excited about Manny and we’re very, very proud of him,” said Moropolous. “We’re looking forward to watching him do great things at Glenville.”
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published May 9, 2012.
