Rob Stover is in his first year as Varsity Football Coach, but has eleven seasons as Assistant Coach with the Spartans to help him craft a team that is ready for on the field execution as well as focused on scholastic and community success. Stover spoke about being devoted, relentless, and connected as a team during this week’s Rotary meeting. He was joined by three of his five team captains who echoed the same thoughts when giving personal remarks. Those present were Caden Ralph, Will Rosenow, and Adam Carrick. Unable to attend were Peter Gehrig and Ben Anderson. There will be a new quarterback this season with junior Madden Larsen taking on those duties. Their season starts August 21 with the traditional rivalry game against DeKalb.
Stover noted the restructuring of rules for the number of games required to be played to qualify for IHSA playoffs finds the Spartans traveling about four hours south to the St. Louis area for a game against the Triads of Troy, Illinois this year. Stover says the Triads are a similar sized school to Sycamore and were picked after closer schools opted not to risk losing to a historically strong Spartan team.
Stover says he is thrilled to be in Sycamore. He said that the quaint downtown and families with long-term ties to the area made this just the kind of place he and his wife were looking for to raise their family.