Niko Pavlou just wanted to be on the field.
So when Crown Point coach Craig Buzea asked him whether he wanted to play offense or defense during his high school career, Pavlou didn’t hesitate.
“I told him, ‘Wherever you need me, just put me there,'” Pavlou said.
So Pavlou became an outside linebacker, a position where the 6-foot, 185-pound junior is flourishing in his second season as a starter. He has 36 tackles, including nine for loss.
“We had to find a guy who has a little bit of football intelligence and instincts, and you also have to be able to play the run and handle some pass responsibilities too,” Buzea said. “He’s athletic enough to do it all, and we feel like he’s a perfect fit for where he’s playing right now.”
All of that came together during the third quarter of Crown Point’s 34-33 win against Penn in a Class 6A regional championship game on Friday. The Kingsmen had scored 14 straight points to tie the game at 20-20 and had the ball again.
But a botched handoff by Penn led to a fumble, and Pavlou just reacted.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything else,” he said. “I just dove for it, and no one was going to take it from me after I touched the ball.”
Pavlou’s fumble recovery halted Penn’s momentum and helped the Bulldogs (12-0), who are ranked No. 4 in the poll by The Associated Press and No. 5 by the state’s coaches, win their first regional title since 1988 and advance to semistate against No. 5/No. 6 Westfield (11-1).
For Pavlou, that play was just another item on the long list of things he has to do as a linebacker, which is why he enjoys playing the position.
“I can play man. I can play zone. I can blitz ,” he said. “I can do a lot of things. It’s tough, but I can do it because we have coaches who teach us all of those things. I feel like I can do anything on the field from linebacker.”
Ask Pavlou’s parents, Chris and Tina, about his football career, and they’ll tell you about an athlete who seemed destined for moments like that pivotal turnover against Penn.
“He just loved football,” Tina Pavlou said. “Since he started lifting weights and getting better and then they started playing him at outside linebacker, it’s been nonstop seven days a week.”
Chris Pavlou, who coached Niko with the Crown Point Junior Bulldogs, is impressed by his son’s progress.
“He’s quiet,” Chris Pavlou said. “But he’s a beast.”
Another facet of Niko Pavlou’s game is his speed. Buzea noted that’s something the coaches sought for the defense last year.
“We knew that we wanted more speed on the field, and we were trying to build our defense up,” Buzea said. “Even though he was just a sophomore then, we thought he could be a guy who’d give us that speed and aggressiveness, and it’s worked out pretty well for us.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs have two shutouts this season and have held six other opponents to single digits in points. Penn was the first team to score more than 14 against them.
But all that is in Pavlou’s rearview mirror as he looks ahead to semistate on Friday.
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“All I’ve been thinking about is that if we win this one game, we’re going to state,” he said. “We just have to be perfect.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.