Hometown Heroes

Author Theron Hopkins travels from sweltering summer practices to heated crosstown rivalry matchups to one of the biggest games in the country, the Texas 5A state title game, held in San Antonio’s Alamodome, witnessing thrilling wins and devastating losses along the way. Hitting twenty towns in twenty weeks, this story showcases a cross section of America seen through football, from Great Falls, Montana, where the coach borrows five hundred dollars in his own name to purchase weight-training equipment for his team, and builds them up to championship caliber; to Waldport, Oregon, where the varsity squad is just fourteen boys strong and gearing up to take on one of the toughest teams in the conference; to Massillon, Ohio, where high school football is so important that the president of the booster club puts a tiny orange football into every baby boy’s crib in the hospital.But the author also finds that the wins or losses on Friday nights are only part—and maybe not even the best part—of what makes the game so irresistible and so important to all those people who watch it, coach it, and play it.Night after night, all across America, the story uncovers the true heart and soul of high school football.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

“Theron Hopkins has written about high school football with a kick returner’s ardor to get from one end zone to the other. He has gone coast to coast, from California to Pennsylvania, providing us with the voices of the game, which of course are the voices of America. Hopkins has a sharp ear for local dialect and he elicits the eternities of autumn, cigar smoke, shelled peanuts and being true to your school.” —Jeré Longman, The New York Times“. . . deserves to be the next Friday Night Lights. . . . Simply the finest book on football I have read since Bissinger’s classic.” —Derek Charles Catsam, The Sport Literature Association“This is high school football in all its possible glory, with heart-rending cases that tug at the soul. . . . A touchdown toss for sure.” —Marc Maturo, The Sports Network“A marvelous look at high school football across America, in all its hues, in all its magic.” — Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights, “Theron Hopkins has written about high school football with a kick returner’s ardor to get from one end zone to the other. He has gone coast to coast, from California to Pennsylvania, providing us with the voices of the game, which of course are the voices of America. Hopkins has a sharp ear for local dialect and he elicits the eternities of autumn, cigar smoke, shelled peanuts and being true to your school.” —Jeré Longman, The New York Times“. . . deserves to be the next Friday Night Lights. . . . Simply the finest book on football I have read since Bissinger’s classic.” —Derek Charles Catsam, The Sport Literature Association“This is high school football in all its possible glory, with heart-rending cases that tug at the soul. . . . A touchdown toss for sure.” —Marc Maturo, The Sports Network“A marvelous look at high school football across America, in all its hues, in all its magic.” — Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights

Theron Hopkins is a high school English teacher in Colusa, California. This is his first book.