Former SHS quarterback wins NJCCA championship

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A Seward High School graduate recently led his team to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III football championship.

Gavin Sukup, a freshman at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, said winning the championship was a big deal.

“For the school, it was huge because it continues to get the school exposure with things like funding and recruiting,” he said. “For me, I have never won anything like this. I never won a championship in high school.”

Sukup said going to DuPage and playing college sports was a bit of a change from Seward High.

“In high school, people who end up becoming college athletes were the best players on their team,” Sukup said. “At the college level, everyone was that person. It’s important to come in and be humble. Don’t expect things to go your way right away.”

Although it was a big transition for Sukup, he said he knew he was in the right place.

“The coaching staff was a lot like the one I had in high school,” he said. “They get to know you as a player. That solidified that I made the right choice.”

Even though Sukup led his team to the championship, he wasn’t the starter at the beginning of the year.

“I didn’t become the starter until week three, so right away I was thinking that I was going to red shirt,” he said. “I learned the playbook quickly, made plays in practice and games, and it wrote itself from there. I really just did my best to progress as a quarterback.”

After continuing to be the starter through the regular season, Sukup found himself at the championship game. He said he wasn’t nervous.

“Our team culture is really good, so no one hyped it up more than normal,” he said. “Pressure wasn’t enforced.”

Sukup also said he got sick leading up to the game.

“It didn’t bother me,” he said. “If anything, it helped me settle down.”

After a championship and a solid season overall, passing for 1,431 yards, 16 touchdowns, only one interception and adding 406 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns, Sukup found himself on the NJCAA second-team All-American offense.

“It feels really good to be on there,” he said. “I thought I could’ve played better in a lot of games, but overall I’m happy with the result.”

With all of his accomplishments this year, Sukup credits Seward High for helping him get to where he is.

“I think playing all the sports helped me become a better athlete,” he said. “I also had a lot of great coaches at Seward that have the same values. There are also a lot of great people at Seward High.”

Now that football and the first semester have come to an end, Sukup said he’ll come home for break, stay at DuPage for spring ball and then hopefully move on to a four-year school to continue football.