Wheaton North football player Sam Singleton is the Athlete of the Week sponsored by ReMax Suburban

Sam Singleton

Wheaton North

Football

Senior

Why Singleton was selected: Singleton ran for a season-high 200 yards and touchdowns of 60, 35 and 23 yards in the Falcons' 21-12 win over Lake Park on Sept. 22. For the season, Singleton, a two-year starter, has run for 791 yards on 108 carries with 12 touchdowns for the 4-1 Falcons.

Singleton, the Suburban Life Athlete of the Week sponsored by ReMax Suburban, spoke with Suburban Life sports editor Joshua Welge about the season. Here's an edited transcript:

Welge: That's a big game you had last week. How'd you do it?

Singleton: The coaches put us in a great position to succeed. We played our brand of football, we played that way each down and got the result we wanted.

Welge: You're one win away from becoming playoff-eligible (Wheaton North has gone 4-5 the last three years). How big a deal is it to make the playoffs?

Singleton: Right now, we are just taking it week by week. We are focusing on Glenbard North.

Welge: You're not the biggest guy (5-foot-7, 170 pounds), but you get a lot of carries. Do you like the heavy workload?

Singleton: As long as the O-line keeps blocking, I'll keep running behind them. They are doing a great job creating holes for me. As long as they keep making the holes I'll keep pounding the defense.

Welge: Your phone number has a Texas area code. Are you from there?

Singleton: I was born in Texas, moved to Naperville after a couple years and then we moved back to Flower Mound, Texas for four years. We settled here in Wheaton in 2008. My first year playing football was in Wheaton. I remember how welcoming the community was, how fun they made it. (Northwestern quarterback Clayton) Thorson, his dad was my coach.

Welge: Is football in the family?

Singleton: Yes, my dad (Gary) walked on at Clemson. My older brother (Nick) played football at Wheaton North. He does lacrosse now at Marquette.

Welge: I'm told you have the second-highest score in Wheaton North's ironman competition (combined squat max, bench max, clean max, 40-time, pro shuttle). True?

Singleton: Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Speaking of my brother, my goal was to beat him. The competition thing, when I found out I got second I was actually kind of mad. I can bench 300, my vertical is 35 inches and my 40 is 4.5.