By Ken Hansard
Pittsburg High School senior linebacker Gabe Kimzey recorded over 90 tackles as a junior for the Purple Dragons. This stat and more led to his teammates naming him their defensive Player of the Year. It also turned enough heads among the state’s coaches for them to name Kimzey Honorable Mention All-State.
Kimzey is one of a host of talented seniors who have been contributing since their sophomore seasons. As one of the team’s captains, Kimzey holds himself to high standards and sees himself as a flag-bearer for the Dragons’ culture, “I see myself as a leader, and I am a team captain. I do my best to try and lead vocally and by example to show the younger guys how things are supposed to be done.”
Pittsburg finished last season at 5-4 overall, but now, with so many strong returners, they are hopeful of making a deep playoff run this season. However, like any good leader, Gabe is not thinking about that right now. He is looking at the here and now, “For now, we need to take it one game at a time. We are just taking it week by week, and we’re not overlooking any teams. We need to keep working on bettering ourselves, and once we do that, the wins will take care of themselves.”
The Dragons are off to a good start. At the time of this writing, they are 1-1, losing to a tough Shawnee Mission South squad on September 13th. Kimzey says that the entire team put in a lot of grueling hours in the off-season. As for Gabe, he has his sights set on recording over 100 tackles this season, and over the summer, he put in a lot of time working to fine tune his skills, “I mainly just tried to improve every aspect of my game to become a better all-around player.”
Gabe was introduced to the sport by a father who is a coach. Although he says that he has always loved football the most, he has many other interests and is very active in Pittsburg’s school culture. He also wrestles and runs track for the Purple Dragons. He is a member of Pitt’s FCA chapter, and he participates in GBL – Get Busy Living – a club that is active in community service projects. He is strong academically, as well, boasting a 4.25 GPA and a 29 on the ACT.
Gabe has an interesting career path. He will be on the upcoming season of American Idol and would like to use that opportunity to jumpstart a career as a singer. If that doesn’t work out, he plans to go to college to become an eye doctor.
