SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — This week’s Cardi’s Furniture & Mattresses Hometown Sports Hero is Gabe Sloat.

The URI Senior earned a spot on the CAA Football All-Conference Third Team last Fall for his work as a punt returner and the league’s coaches are expecting even more from Sloat this season, voting him to the preseason All-Conference team, one of four Rams to earn a spot on the team.

“Gabe is everything you want in a football player,” said URI Head Coach Jim Fleming. “He’s not always the most verbal guy but he’s always been there for us. If you look back over the years, sometimes he’s been a starter, sometimes he’s been a backup player but he always seems to be that guy that makes a splash play that gives us a chance to win and I couldn’t be happier having him on our squad.”

Sloat was a 2 ^nd Team All-State pick at North Kingstown who helped the Skippers bring home two State Titles. His hometown team the one that gave him the chance to live out his college dream.

“It was everything I hoped for,” Sloat said. “All I wanted was a chance to play at this level. I’m glad it happened at Rhode Island so I could represent my own state but all I wanted was a chance to prove myself and this place has given me that.”

The Rams are shooting for their fourth straight winning season for the first time since 1985, and a winning record in the CAA could get them into the postseason for the first time since that 1985 team. It’s a legacy Gabe would love to leave behind in his final season.

“Obviously we talk about making that postseason run all the time,” Sloat said. “We had an experienced group of guys, who we went through a lot of games with the last few years, and I know a lot of those guys are gone, but this new group has a new energy, and I think we have all the pieces to make that run. We just have to do it each day.”

“Oh, he’ll have plenty of opportunities,” Fleming said. “I mean we certainly have a number of guys we can go to but if you watch practice today, he was probably the most productive guy out there, moving and shaking and getting through the defense. So, I’m looking forward to him having a huge, huge Senior year.”

If you have a Hometown Sports Hero you’d like to nominate, email sports@wpri.com.

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