Blaine Heick ‘26 is a tri-sport athlete at City High and is in his final year of playing Little Hawk football. Heick began playing football early on, starting in 1st grade with flag football. His father was the one who got him into sports, and his passion flourished from there.
“He was the reason I began playing football,” Heick said about his dad. “He had me start playing a lot of sports at a young age.”
Heick shifted to tackle football in 5th grade for the Youth Sports Foundation, an organization that allows kids to play on organized sports teams prior to middle school. Heick started playing quarterback in sixth grade for YSF and continued doing so up until his freshman year at City High. But after two games on the freshman team, Heick would miss the rest of his first high school season due to injury. Heick returned healthy to his sophomore pre-season, but he focused strictly on linebacker.
Heick’s defensive skill led to him being second string in the 2023 season, behind a set of seniors. But after Jacob Kehres suffered a season-ending injury in the opening game, Heick was thrusted into a major role on defense.
“Sophomore year really helped me get a feel of what varsity was like,” Heick said. “I was competing with two other seniors for my spot, which helped motivate me in practice.”
He started multiple games his sophomore season, and while he hadn’t reached his full potential on the defense yet, he would gain a lot of experience and trust from the coaching staff.
Heading into his junior year, Heick started immediately and was one of the leaders of the defense remaining at linebacker. This became Heick’s breakout season as he made a name for himself on the gridiron. He also played alongside freshman breakout Marshall Sheldon ‘28, making the linebackers a threat to any opposing offense. They both led the team in tackles, combining for 133 tackles and 10 tackles for loss.
“Playing alongside Blaine is just plain fun,” Sheldon said. “We usually build our energy off of each other and when we are excited and feeling good, there’s no duo in the state that can hang with us.”
Heick finished the junior season with 64 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. 48 of his 64 tackles were solo, which led the entire defense that year. Heick played a big part in the Little Hawks’ success in the 2024 season, who finished with a 6-3 record and punched their ticket to the playoffs. Unfortunately, despite a great performance displayed by Heick against Ankeny Centennial in the first round, the Little Hawks were eliminated in a tough loss.
Now, in his senior season, Heick has solidified himself as a team leader and a pivotal role in the lineup. Not only is he starting linebacker for another year, he’s also the starting tight end on the offensive side, becoming a key piece in City High’s success. However, so far, the season hasn’t gone the way of the Little Hawks, starting with a record of 0-5.
“We all know we’re a better team than [what] our record says.” Heick said before the game against Norwalk, where the Little Hawks would lose 40-19. “It hurts, but it starts in practice making sure everyone’s accountable. But the team knows how close we are to winning some of these games,”
The Little Hawks have had a trend of having a strong first half and keeping it very close, but are then unable to close it out in the second half. Despite things not going the way the team wants, Heick is having a stellar season on the field, boasting a team high of 43.5 tackles with 22 of them being solo, and recording 7 tackles for loss too.
“I think everyone understands [we need to improve], but for me it’s just making sure I’m holding myself accountable in practice, making sure everyone’s showing up and giving full effort.”
