Suburban Life Athlete of the Week: Jose Herrera, York, soccer, junior

Name: Jose Herrera

School: York, junior

Sport: Soccer

Why he was selected: Herrera had two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win over Fremd in the Class 3A state championship game as the Dukes won their first state title. Herrera also had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Lockport in the state semifinal. Herrera was voted by readers as the Suburban Life Athlete of the Week. Here is Herrera’s interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Welge: What does it mean to win a state title?

Herrera: It’s an honor to play with this group of guys. They’ve taught me a lot. They taught me to play hard even when we’re down. It’s an honor to be a part of the first team in school history to be soccer state champions. It’s amazing.

Welge: What was the mindset going in against a very good Fremd team?

Herrera: We had a bunch of players on our team that knew a bunch of players on their team. We had an idea of what we had to do. We had to guard up, stay on our man, and that’s what we did. We came out on top and it felt great.

Welge: How did your goals happen?

Herrera: The first goal, it was 30 seconds in, I really didn’t celebrate that much. We knew once we had that first goal we needed to get the second one. I was happy that Sam [Musial] was able to slap that one in. The third goal, Sam made an amazing run. Last goal, I had to finish it off, a chip over the goalkeeper. That made us state champs.

Welge: At what point this season did you believe this team was capable of winning a state title?

Herrera: Before the summer, and summer league. I saw the group of guys that came out for tryouts. Our goal was to make it to state and the state finals. It feels amazing that we set this goal, and we accomplished it. It was a hard challenge but we overcame and we are state champs.

Welge: How would you describe yourself as a player? You seem to be a big-time goal scorer [24 goals this season]

Herrera: I don’t really want to give myself all the credit. The people that gave me the passes, those are the people that deserve the credit. They made sure I had a clear opportunity and I had to make sure I put it in the back of the net. We did amazing and I love those guys.

Joshua  Welge

Joshua Welge

I am the Sports Editor for Kendall County Newspapers, the Kane County Chronicle and Suburban Life Media, covering primarily sports in Kendall, Kane, DuPage and western Cook counties. I've been covering high school sports for 24 years. I also assist with our news coverage.