Suburban Life Athlete of the Week: Gabe Kaminski, Nazareth, football, sophomore

Name: Gabe Kaminski

School: Nazareth, sophomore

Sport: Football

Why he was selected: Kaminski had 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss, and made the tackle on a key two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to preserve Nazareth’s 45-44 win over Peoria in the Class 5A state championship game. Kaminski was voted the Athlete of the Week in an online vote by readers. Here is his interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Welge: Your team went from 2-4 to state champs, which had never been done before. How’d you guys do it? Was there a turning point?

Kaminski: It took an incredible amount of hard work and dedication not only from the team but the coaches, too. We were not the biggest team, but we really had a brotherhood. Coach [Tim] Racki had been instilling leadership and having us bond since the summer. That helped us stay positive in the face of adversity. I think the turning point was after our Week 6 loss against St. Rita. I felt like we really came together as a team and had a mutual understanding that from then on we needed to giving everything to the season.

Welge: You made a ton of plays against some huge Peoria offensive linemen. How did you beat their size?

Kaminski: While we were studying their film we saw that they liked to pull their guards quite a lot. I made quite a few tackles off following the pulling guard into the backfield. The Peoria O-line was huge, but our D-line had speed, which worked to our advantage.

Welge: What happened on the two-point conversion?

Kaminski: We knew that a run was coming. It was working for them so they wouldn’t shy away from it. They ran a guard wing counter my way and the tackle blocked down on me. I spun out of the block and was lucky to be there to make the play.

Welge: You also caught a big pass. I did not know you caught passes! What happened there? Do they have a set package for you offensively?

Kaminski: I had caught a few passes during the season, but none that long or important. It was just a great throw by Logan [Malachuk], putting it where only I could get it. I was blocking for most of the game so I’m sure the defense was caught off guard when I went out for a pass.

Welge: How did the defense hold it together when things got crazy with all the scoring?

Kaminski: We have been handling adversity all season, having our playoff run start Week 6 when we were one game away from being eliminated from the playoffs. We just trusted in each other and the coaches. Nobody was pointing fingers when they broke off big plays or scored. That all circles back to the brotherhood and the traits coach Racki had instilled in us.