Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week: Alessio Milivojevic, St. Francis, senior, football

Name: Alessio Milivojevic

School: St. Francis, senior

Sport: Football

Why he was selected: Milivojevic, a Ball State recruit, was 16-of-21 passing for 273 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Nazareth. Milivojevic finished the season with 2,343 passing yards and 31 total touchdowns. He completed 73.5% of his passes and had only three interceptions.

Here is his interview with Jake Bartelson.

Bartelson: You’re in the playoffs and playing good, solid football. What’s your locker room feeling like ahead of what should be a run the next few weeks?

Milivojevic: Going into the playoffs, the locker room is full of confident players and guys who want to go out there every week and execute our game plan. We’re going to go week by week and take each game one by one.

Bartelson: So much of your success lies with the boys up front for you. Can you speak to their level of play this season to help you do what you do?

Milivojevic: The line has played lights out all year and they’ve given me and [running back] Tyvonn [Ransom] opportunities to do what we want. Being led by three, four seniors and having played behind a lot of them for three years has boosted all of our confidence.

Bartelson: Wideout Ian Willis has played awesome as of late. What makes him so explosive and dangerous?

Milivojevic: Ian has been doing a lot for us, whether it’s beating a guy man-to-man or finding the opening in the zone especially on late downs, he’s been great. Also having the other receivers around him to stretch the field helps everyone out.

Bartelson: Your first-round test is Rochelle. What are your initial feelings on the matchup ahead?

Milivojevic: We played Rochelle last year in the quarterfinals so we know a little about them. I think it’s going to be another good game and we’re looking to do what we’ve done all year, again going game by game.