Nixa football’s run to the state championship has been five years in the making

NIXA — Eagles coach John Perry can only recall twice in his life when he cried.

Once, when he was the head coach at Pearl High School in Mississippi, and his players lost a hard-fought playoff game. He walked to the back of a building and shed tears because he hurt for them.

The other? He got teary-eyed near the end of the 1993 Disney film Cool Runnings.

But after Nixa’s 56-46 state semifinal win over Kirkwood on Saturday afternoon, advancing the Eagles to their first state championship in 10 years, Perry felt a third round of waterworks coming. He kept his postgame remarks brief and avoided them.

“I almost got emotional because I know what it took,” Perry said. “I know what they’ve put into this and I know what we’ve put into this as coaches. It was an overwhelming gratefullness that we got to do this together. There are so many people that this means so much to and it just made it that much more important.”

Nixa’s run to a state championship has been five years in the making, coinciding with Perry’s hiring. Since he was named the Eagles’ head coach in 2020, the direction of the Nixa football program changed, and it only seemed like a matter of time before it reached a state championship.

Nixa’s rise into becoming one of the state’s elite programs didn’t happen without a few heartaches along the way but it laid a foundation that has the Eagles facing De Smet Jesuit in Friday’s 7 p.m. Class 6 championship game at Memorial Stadium in Columbia for a shot at their first state title.

“This has been very special,” Perry said. “This is a group of young men and coaches the community can rally around. It’s very fulfilling.”

More: Missouri high school football playoffs: Everything to know about the state championship games

The Nixa Eagles celebrate after beating the Kirkwood Pioneers in the Class 6 Semifinal game at Nixa on…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nixa-footballs-run-state-championship-091815684.html

Author : Springfield News-Leader

Publish date : 2024-12-05 09:18:00

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