Best Version Media (BVM) Sports presents a feature story on Week 3 Chicago Bears Community High School All-Star Award winner, Danny Vuckovic:

Throughout the fall, it’s seen nearly every week. In a tie game, a team drives to get themselves into field goal range, putting them in position for the winning score. The kicker trots out onto the field to attempt the winning kick, with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

It’s not an easy situation, but Lake Zurich kicker Danny Vuckovic relishes those kinds of moments.

“I think it’s just preparing myself mentally to go on the field and not being afraid to make mistakes,” Vuckovic said about his mindset. “I go into the kicks confident each time … You just have to take it one kick at a time. You miss some, you make some. When I miss one, you can’t get that kick back, so you just have to move on to the next one.”

Recently, Vuckovic found himself in that very scenario. In an early-season game against rival Stevenson, Lake Zurich found itself down 10-0 at halftime. However, that’s when the Bears realized they needed to rally.

“We all just came together and said, ‘This is our senior year, we’re not going to go out like this against our rivals at home,’” Vuckovic said. “We came out firing in the second half. The defense was great, the offense was great.”

In the third quarter, Vuckovic made a 43-yard field goal to make the score 10-3. With the Lake Zurich defense continuing to get stops, the offense finally did its part, scoring a touchdown to make it a 10-9 game, with Vuckovic coming on for the extra point.

“I think I was more nervous for that extra point than a game-winning kick,” Vuckovic said.

As he usually does, the Lake Zurich senior drilled the extra point to tie the game up. As the Bears got the ball back, they drove to the outer edge of field goal range. Tied at 10, Vuckovic came on for what would be a career-long 52-yard attempt.

“My coach asked me where I felt comfortable, and there was a little breeze at the time, so I was saying 50 was probably my max with the breeze,” Vuckovic said. “It ended up being a 52-yard field goal.”

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