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Minooka's Blake King is headed to Northwestern in 2013 and will play for former south suburban standout Pat Fitzgerald. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound offensive/defensive lineman helped the Indians upset previously unbeaten Plainfield Central on Friday night.

What made you decide to pick NU, and what other schools were you looking at?
I was looking at Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and all the Mid-American Conference schools. I picked Northwestern because they offered the best athletics and academics.

Did Fitz offer you right away?
He was waiting on my ACT score, and as soon as he got that he offered. I committed right away.

How do you think you fit into their offensive line and no-huddle offense?
We’re starting to pass a lot more this year and I know (NU) runs the ball a lot, too, so I fit in very well. And we’re starting the no-huddle. I feel comfortable with it and I’m learning it real fast.

What are you looking forward to most about playing Big Ten football?
The competition. You get to play great teams every week. I want to play in The Big House, because my uncle played at Michigan and that would be pretty awesome. It’s one of the biggest stadiums in the country.

Do you have any hidden talents?
I am a really good long-snapper. The key is practice and spending as much time as you can doing long snapping drills every day.

Did you and Fitz ever talk about you doing some long-snapping?
No, but the offensive line coach, Adam Cushing, knows I’m a long snapper so we’ll see.

When you were growing up what was the craziest thing you wanted to be?
A professional baseball player.