First United Bank Boys Athlete of the Week: Luke Laminack, Amarillo High

Luke Laminack, Amarillo High football, senior

On the field: Laminack’s versatility was a huge factor in Amarillo High’s 34-27 victory over Lubbock Coronado last week which put the Sandies alone in second place in District 2-5A Division I. On the third play of the game, Laminack returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown to set the tone for the Sandies. He also kicked the extra point, then on Coronado’s next possession, he intercepted another pass and returned it deep into Coronado territory, setting up his own 33-yard field goal. While Laminack is best known as a kicker, and kicked four extra points and two field goals vs. Coronado, he showed what he could do as a safety by making 12 tackles and breaking up a pass. His biggest play of the game may have been combining with Erik Gray to stop Coronado’s Antonio Malone on a fourth-and-goal to help maintain the lead. Laminack is also Amarillo High’s punter.

Coach Chad Dunnam: “If you look at how many roles Luke plays, he is lout starting free safety, he’s our starting kicker, he’s our starting punter. He does a really good job at every one of them. He’s a kid we rely heavily on having been in our program four years. What he does for us, I don’t know if I’ve had a kid serve as many roles for a football team as what Luke Laminack does for the 2021 Sandies. I told him that there was a good possibility when the year started I’d like him to be the leading scorer and he’ll be competing for it. He’s so valuable to us as a kicker and we made the decision that playing him at safety could jeopardize him as a kicker if he gets hurt. We thought the risk was worth it.”

Laminack: “I was very much pumped. I thought it was important to just get a big turnover on defense and luckily it took place on the third play of the game to kind of set the tone for us. It really boosted our confidence and going into this game we had worked hard all week and we just had to turn it up and bounce back from a loss to Tascosa. We knew this game was important in trying to get the second seed for the playoff spot and now we just have to take care of business for the rest of district. I was more worried about the passing game knowing they were about a 75 percent passing offense.”

About Laminack

Favorite band or musician: Fleetwood Mac

Favorite social medial platform: Twitter or Instagram

Favorite athlete: Patrick Mahomes

Bet you didn’t know: Has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation among senior high school kickers.

Parents: Robert and Cari Laminack