Photo illustration by Steve Muscatello Isaac Fink was named the 2018 All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year. Fink caught 63 passes for 1,118 yards and 16 touchdowns and also ran for 211 yards and four touchdowns. The Tigers made it to state this year after winning just two games last season.

SPRINGFIELD — Even though Springfield’s Isaac Fink dedicated himself to basketball after his freshman year, the standout in both basketball and baseball still missed putting on the pads and helmet for football season.

So after signing with Augustana for both basketball and baseball this fall, Fink decided he’d go back to football for his senior year. It proved to be a wise choice.

Fink was nearly impossible to cover all season for opposing defenses. He racked up 63 receptions for 1,118 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns and later was used as an option in the running game, where he had 211 yards rushing and four touchdowns. He also showed off his arm in the state quarterfinal game when he threw a touchdown pass.

Fink showed why he’s the best three-sport athlete in the area and was named the 2018 All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year.

Fink, who has won the Player of the Year twice in basketball, now has three awards as The Journal’s best in-season athlete.

Despite not playing since his freshman year when he was a quarterback, Fink became a weapon for quarterback Decker Scheffler to use. Standing at 6-foot-4, Fink used his height and athleticism and couldn’t be stopped.

He was a big reason why the Tigers advanced to the state semifinals this year after winning just two games a year ago. He said he missed the sport, and the Tigers obviously missed having him on the sidelines over that time.

“Throughout the years, I missed it a ton, I don’t regret not going out, but those years I wasn’t out, seeing all my friends out there playing, there was a part of me that wanted to be out there with them,” Fink said. “I don’t regret not coming out, but this last year coming out was definitely a good decision with our success. Just the memories we made, you can’t re-create it.”

He was a future star at quarterback when he last played as a freshman, but that spot was taken over by Scheffler, a three-sport star in his own right. Fink moved to wide receiver this year and it’s safe to say it paid off.

“It was different, but I’ve always wanted to be a receiver and I’ve always loved that, being matched up one-on-one with someone, trying to see who’s better and it’s really a competition between you and the guy across from you,” Fink said. “It’s nice knowing that you have Decker quarterbacking.”

With the new offense in place, the Tigers had to get used to it. They lost their first two games, but the offense kept improving and so did the defense. Once Scheffler and Fink found the chemistry, the two really put that talent on display in an October game against Sleepy Eye. There, Scheffler threw for 372 yards and seven touchdown passes — five of those to Fink, including the game-winner late in the fourth quarter.

“I wouldn’t ask for a different quarterback in the whole state and I think he’s one of the best in the state,” Fink said. “He’s a tremendous leader too, he’s not a senior but he led by example for most of the year. He’s a great guy to have as your quarterback.”

This past spring, Isaac’s dad Bob Fink moved from being the co-baseball coach to the football coach. Bob Fink put a new spread offense in place with the help of offensive coordinator Adam Meyer and there, the decision to play football was entirely on Isaac.

“He tried not to talk to me about going out for football, he just said it was my decision on what I want to do,” Fink said. “I know some assistant coaches were talking to me about it and about the new offense and I was obviously intrigued. When Decker said he was still going to be quarterback, seeing that connection would work and in all the other sports it’s worked so we figured it would work in football, too.”

Once Fink was out for football, Meyer’s creativity expanded.

“That changed a lot of things for us, as far as what we were going to do,” Meyer said. “There are a lot of things that become available that normally wouldn’t just because you have a mismatch like that. He can run, he can jump, he attacks the ball. You can put plays in that your normally wouldn’t when you have a kid that can go get it.”

Fink has made state tournament appearances in all three sports, having won a state title in baseball his freshman year. With one season left in both basketball and baseball, he’s determined to add to that total of state championships.

“The most important thing to me is winning,” he said. “I’ll say this over and over again, I’ll throw all my high school accolades away and just to win a state title in another sport would be great, if it’s baseball that’s great and obviously now my goal now is to win a state title in basketball and I’ll trade all my awards just to accomplish that goal. To be able to compete in three different state tournaments is something that not a lot of people get to do, I’ve been blessed with great teammates around me who got me to that point. It’s just been a really fun ride.”