What makes Lockport’s Adam Kozak run so fast? Try high-stepping in the hot tub.
The junior receiver/kick returner swears by it.
“It’s the best thing for legs,” Kozak said of the workout. “My legs feel 10 times better the next day. I go for 20 minutes a day. I walk around, doing high knees in the tub, and it makes you feel good.”
Lately, Kozak has turned into the feel-good story of the season for Lockport (3-5, 1-2). And Porter fans should feel pretty good about being able to get another year of fun times out of him, too.
So far, Kozak has returned three kickoffs for 90 or more yards for touchdowns. He went 97 yards on Sept. 13 at Neuqua Valley. He added had a 94-yard return on Oct. 11 at Lincoln-Way East.
Then, he showed what he could do in front of the home crowd Friday night with a 99-yard return in a 40-39 double overtime loss to Lincoln-Way West in a Southwest Valley Conference crossover.
“Oh, wow, it’s amazing,” Kozak said. “There is nothing better. You know you trained right, and God put you in the right position. I’ll see a huge hole open up and I’m like, ‘I’m gone.’”
On offense, Kozak also caught five passes for 180 yards and a TD on Oct. 4 against Naperville Central, which enters the final week of the regular season with an 8-0 record.
His latest big return thrilled the home crowd, but ended up with a loss to the Warriors.
From the other sideline, senior defensive back/kick returner Ryan Stiglic felt some admiration for Kozak’s skill set, especially with the 99-yard runback.
“It definitely hurt in the moment, but it was cool,” Stiglic said. “He made a really good play. It’s not easy to do that.”
Kozak pointed out it’s not too difficult when he gets a good jump thanks to his teammates and the play-calling of assistant coach Mark Carmen.
“My blockers are hard-headed guys,” Kozak said. “Coach ‘Carm’ puts it up real well. I’m just running up the middle with faith and trusting my players.”
The 5-foot-10, 146-pound Kozak also caught two TD passes from junior quarterback Brendan Mecher and threw a 54-yard TD pass to Mecher on a trick play against Lincoln-Way West.
It showed how he can run, pass and catch.
“He has a lot of savvy,” Lockport coach George Czart said of Kozak. “He’s very smooth. Good hands. He as a great football mind. He’s got some speed.
“He’s a little skinny and undersized, but he makes up for it with those other things. And he’s a strong kid. He’s a special player for us.”
Czart had different ideas about how to use Kozak this season but changed his mind.
“I was going to take him on defense and those guys wanted him on offense,” Czart said of his coaching staff. “When I saw what he could do, I said, ‘He has to get the ball.’
“He’s so special on offense we have to keep him there.”
Kozak would probably be a pretty good sprinter in track as well, but he’s using his springs to play baseball, where he has drawn interest from Division I schools Xavier and Cincinnati.
Lockport closes the football regular season Friday at Homewood-Flossmoor (4-4, 1-2) in a Southwest Valley Blue game. A win would give the Porters a sliver of a chance at the playoffs.
No matter how miniscule the postseason chances are, Kozak is ready to go.
“The mindset is that it’s not over,” he said. “No one is going to have their head down. We want to come back and get a big win and play with some Porter pride.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
