Second Place Sports Feature
Originally Published Dec. 4, 2015
DeKALB – Shortly after the clock hit zero on Tri-Valley’s dominant 41-8 state championship victory Friday afternoon, quarterback Peyton Roop found his dad and head coach, Josh, on the sidelines.
Under the bright lights of Huskie Stadium, in front of a bellowing Viking Nation and behind the flash of the cameras, the father son pair embraced as champions.
“I was numb and I still am right now,” Josh Roop said as the Tri-Valley crowd trickled out of Huskie Stadium to make way for the 3A game.
“As a dad, you couldn’t ask for more of a storybook ending right now.”
The coach was beaming with pride as his son and senior quarterback rushed for 143 yards and a pair of scores to lead the team on drive after drive behind a bulldozing offensive line and a talented trio of running backs.
Peyton reciprocated the satisfaction, but, much like his father, he realized it was about much more than one father-son storyline – regardless how perfect an ending the season proved to have.
“I’ve been with my dad throughout the program and ever since he started coaching,” Peyton said. “It feels so great that we could do it for every Viking that has been here. It’s just a blessing, this team is blessed and we did a great job this year.”
The son’s response followed in the footsteps of the elder Roop, as the coach had only moments before addressed what the victory meant for the Tri-Valley program.
“We took over a program nine years ago and every year it’s been a building block. I have been blessed to deal with incredible kids, an incredible community in which I grew up,” Josh Roop said. “This one is for every Viking that ever put on a helmet and a jersey.”
The father-son storyline was a good one for the Roops – especially considering Peyton had a cousin suiting up as a freshman on Auburn’s squad. But Josh made clear his pride was not bound by blood, as he extolled the virtues of the Viking family and the boys that laid the groundwork for this year’s title run – including the 2013 state runner-up team and those that came before it.
“We have been so blessed to have great people and great players around (Peyton),” Josh said. “I mean, he’s a good football player but he is only as good as the people around him.”
And while the victory made the post-game smiles come easier this year, the professionalism of the Viking young men as they approached the post-game podium was their coach’s greatest cause to grin.
“You take a group of kids and you watch them come in as freshmen and you watch them grow up and you use the game as a coach to try to teach them life lessons and you try to make men out of them,” Roop said.
“Winning a state championship is great but to watch these kids grow up and carry themselves like they do, that’s why I coach.”