Sports
Three Raiders Commit at River Valley Signing Day
By: Matt Summers
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Several student-athletes across the country are signing commitments to colleges and today was no different for River Valley’s Tre Craycraft, Robert Drummond and Josh Marcum.
All three will be staying in Ohio, but Craycraft and Drummond will be staying close to home at Marietta College while Marcum will be the lone Raider heading north to Muskingum College. However, he isn’t too worried about going alone.
“It’s a little nervous. It’s going to be uncomfortable a little but, I’ll make new friends,” said Marcum.
Drummond and Marcum got to know each other quite well as they each played right tackle and right guard, respectively. Craycraft set the field on fire for the Raiders, becoming the only receiver in school history to get over 1,000 yards.
Both Drummond and Marcum were both first time starters coming into their senior year. In Drummond’s case, he felt he had a bad freshman year and it wasn’t until junior year when he felt like he could start, but it didn’t happen.
“I started wrestling my junior year and it got me in really good shape, gave me more confidence,” said Drummond.
Coach Jerrod Sparling took over the Raiders in 2011, after having several losing seasons. Sparling played under Coach Frank Solich at Ohio University and understood what had to change for River Valley to work its way back up.
“Just transform the culture into something that everybody can get involved whether it’s the players and their experience or the community and the way they look at it,” said Coach Sparling. “Days like today where you get to see three guys realize their dreams, that doesn’t happen magically.”
On the flip side, the coach has to have some players that can get the job done and that’s exactly what Craycraft, Drummond and Marcum were able to do for Sparling.
“Their presence holds so much weight in our program. All three are program guys,” said Coach Sparling. “These are guys that developed through the program and have certainly became successful.”
Unfortunately for Coach Sparling, he is going to have to fill those holes on the field. In Sparling’s mind, sometimes you can’t replace certain players.
“The thing is, I don’t really think you ever try to replace guys,” said Coach Sparling. “You can’t. No one is ever going to be like Tre exactly was. Now they can play his position, but personnel settings are different.”
The Raiders are coming off a 6-4 season in 2016 and look to keep improving the program so more players like Craycraft, Drummond and Marcum can become student-athletes on the collegiate level.