Kunickis going with ’Cats
Lemont RB, who ‘always believed’ in himself, commits to Northwestern as a preferred walk-on
When Albert Kunickis first puts on a Northwestern football jersey next year, it may stun some onlookers to see a player who was born without a right hand and forearm carrying the ball for the Wildcats.
Kunickis, a senior running back at Lemont who recently committed to the Wildcats as a preferred walk-on, has surprised just about everyone along the way. Except himself.
“I knew for sure I would be able to accomplish this,” Kunickis said of committing to play in the Big Ten. “It’s always a dream I had. Growing up, I watched the NFL. I always watched the Saints and Drew Brees and I fell in love with the sport.
“I wanted to compete at the highest level I could. Putting in work daily got me there. I always believed in myself, even when others didn’t.”
Kunickis, who has a 4.1 GPA, received some interest from Ivy League schools and visited Notre Dame, which also was interested in him as a preferred walk-on. But Northwestern always stood out.
“The hospitality and the continuous love and support they showed throughout the whole recruiting process was huge,” Kunickis said. “They consistently reached out, sent me letters, invited me out to the campus.
“I’ve been watching Northwestern since I was a kid. The campus is beautiful. Coach ‘Fitz’ (Pat Fitzgerald) is a great coach. It’s exactly what I was looking for in a school — great academics and great football.”
Lemont coach Bret Kooi still marvels at how far Kunickis has come.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Kooi said. “He’s earned all the accolades he’s getting. He’s worked extremely hard to get where he’s at. I’m very proud and happy for him.
“I thought he was going to be a pretty good football player. I just didn’t know where he was going to fit. If you asked me early on if he’d be our running back, I probably would have said no. But that’s Al. That’s a tribute to him. He’s not going to let anything hold him back.”
Six days after committing to Northwestern, Kunickis made it an even more incredible week for himself on Oct. 30 with a monster performance in Lemont’s 73-36 win at Springfield in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
He ran for 256 yards and five touchdowns on 33 carries and added a sixth TD on a 13-yard catch.
“It was a special night,” Kunickis said. “We got the win. Hats off to the offensive line for opening those holes for me, and I just sprinted through them and got to the end zone.
“Every time I got the ball, it was perfect. It was like, ‘Here’s my opportunity to score again. Let’s go.’ We felt unstoppable. Once we got the run game going, it felt like it was over, honestly.”
Warriors win: Crete-Monee’s high-powered offense was sidelined often early Saturday by St. Ignatius’ time-consuming rushing attack in a 6A second-round game.
“In that first half, I don’t think we had even 20 offensive plays,”
Crete-Monee coach John Konecki said. “It went by so fast. That puts added stress on you because you really have to be perfect. We stayed the course and made the most of some opportunities in the second half.
“Defensively, our staff did a great job preparing our kids, and our kids a great job executing.”
The Warriors (8-3), who rallied from a 3-0 halftime deficit for a 15-3 win, will travel to downstate Washington (9-2) for a quarterfinal game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Showdown, part two: Brother Rice (9-2) will host Mount Carmel (8-3) at 4 p.m. Saturday in a 7A quarterfinal.
The Crusaders beat the Caravan 43-36 in a wild regular-season game.
“Both teams have gotten better since that game,” Brother Rice coach Brian Badke said. “It’s going to come down to who can protect the football and who can make big plays.”