Munster’s Sam Sudac Can do all Things

MUNSTER – Sam Sudac was just running around his house when he was 5 years old. Then came a knock on the door.
Thump. Thump. Thud.
It was his next-door neighbors, Joe and Owen Burns, also 5 at the time. They weren’t asking to borrow some sugar.
They were offering an opportunity.
“They asked me if I wanted to play football,” Sudac said. “We played for the Munster Colts Pop Warner team, and I just fell in love with football immediately.”
Like a tattoo on the skin, Sudac’s friendship with the Burns brothers — and his love of football — have carried through to his senior season at Munster.
It all culminated Saturday night when the Mustangs defeated Lake Central 37-35, earning their first victory over the Indians in 11 seasons.
Sudac threw for 103 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 194 yards and three scores.
Burns provided the finishing touch, booting a 32-yard field goal with 3.5 seconds remaining to give the Mustangs the dramatic victory.
The Stangs trailed by 15 points at halftime.
“We had to put everything on the field,” Sudac said of the comeback. “I knew we were still in the game. When the kick was good, it didn’t even feel real in the moment. It was like a sigh of relief.”
Coach Romison Saint-Louis is in his third season of rebuilding Munster’s program. The once-proud Region power hasn’t had a winning season since 2014.
“Confidence is what you hope for with the assurance in what you believe,” Saint-Louis said. “You never know what will happen when you take the field. But you know you will never quit and keep fighting until the very end.
“That’s what we did.”
Sudac has played running back since he was a youngster. There wasn’t much else to it.
But Saint-Louis had a plan for the athletic runner.
Sudac played Wildcat quarterback for roughly 10 percent of Munster’s offensive snaps last season.
After the season, the ball was placed in Sudac’s hands full time.
“I don’t like to brag, but I’ve always been an athlete and I can throw the ball,” Sudac said. “I can spread the field. I know we’re going to continue getting better.”
That improvement will be tested Friday when Munster hosts preseason No. 8 Griffith in a Class 3A matchup.
The boys in red will have to be at their best.
Sudac has a large tattoo on his throwing arm. It means the world to him.
It features Philippians 4:13 from the New Testament:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
“It lets me know I can push through anything as long as God is with me,” said Sudac, a lifelong Catholic. “It has carried through many things in my life. The (Lake Central) game gave our team morale a great boost. We have to keep pushing through. We have to hope for the best.”
Sudac is involved in plenty at Munster. He runs track and is a member of Link Crew, a group of upperclassmen who welcome freshmen and help them find their way around the school.
He also serves on the athletic council and is a member of the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Sudac hopes to play football in college, where he plans to study finance.
“I knew Sam was the best athlete and he could handle it,” Saint-Louis said of turning the offense over to Sudac at quarterback. “We know we’ve got a big one against Griffith. They’re very good, very aggressive. We’ve got to limit their big plays.
“And we’re going to have to score.”
All things considered, that sounds like a plan.

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network