SUNDAY BLESSING
Fans give team sendoff on journey to state title game
TROY, N.Y.» Members of the Troy High School varsity football team were sent off in style Sunday morning as they took the final step in defending their state championship.
Fans of the Flying Horses, including school administrators, faculty, students and family members, joined the school’s marching band and cheerleaders in wishing players well as they got on a bus that took the Section II champions west to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for a 3 p.m. game against Section VI champ Lancaster High School for the 2017 New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA title. Troy also played Sun-
day as the defending state champion, defeating Victor last year.
Board of Education member Anne Wager Rounds was among the crowd gathered to cheer for the athletes as they left the Collar City.
“We are so excited that they’re going today and that it’s the second year in a row,” she said. “These guys are just awesome kids. Everybody has such a positive attitudes toward just going, just being a part of it. It’s just a wonderful feeling for everybody. The community is totally behind them, which is really nice.”
With gametime still nearly six hours away, Wager Rounds was
already anxious for kickoff.
“With just a little luck and a lot of talent, we’ll come back home with our championship,” she said.
Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, who was also at the high school Sunday, said the back-to-back trips are a tribute to the hard work of the players and the coaching staff, led by Bobby Burns.
“This is amazing,” Mad-
den said. “It really speaks well to the coaching staff here and the dedication of the parents, teachers and the kids, of course.”
Madden said he was especially excited for the players
“This is a defining event in their life,” he said. “They will remember this forever.”
Among the most ecstatic supporters Sunday were the players’ parents, including Marissa Stevens, the mother of senior offensive lineman Tyler Van-Derwood. Van-Derwood has been playing on
school teams since seventh grade, including last year’s championship run.
“I’m very proud of him and his team,” Stevens said. “They’re a great team, good kids.”
Stevens and a group of other parents and family members were also taking a bus to Syracuse to cheer on the team.
“It’s a very big moment,” she said. “It’s very exciting.”
When the team bus left the school, it did so with an escort by Troy police to the Troy-Menands Bridge.