Today’s interviewee is Roswell quarterback Robbie Roper, who leads Class 7A in passing yards with 1,100. Roswell is 3-0, ranked No. 6 and averaging 43.3 points per game entering its home game tonight against Campbell, which also is 3-0. This interview was done for GHSF Daily by Jeff Sentell of DawgNation.
Robbie Roper, Roswell quarterback
1. You had a solid junior season with 24 passing touchdowns in 11 games. That’s 2.1 TD passes per game, but you now have 14 touchdowns in three games this fall. That’s almost five per game. How do you feel about being the leading passer in Class 7A, and to what do you attribute the big leap in production? “Last year, we really didn’t throw the ball as much. For all of our first year, we had new coaches all around us. We knew for this second year we’d see a pretty good leap forward in passing yards. We thought we could have a good year in general as a team and with more passing yards for our offense. It was really the same scheme, just giving me more leeway in my second year. If I see something now where they are pressing us on the outside, I can change it and get my guy in something that would be better for that play. They just gave me a lot more leeway to make changes for this offense, As far as leading 7A right now, I am really excited about it. I really just hope I can keep all of this good stuff for our team going throughout region play and for the whole season.”
2. You transferred to Roswell before your junior year. Transfers are now commonplace in high school football. Why did your move to Roswell make sense? “Roswell was definitely a more well-known program for putting players into college [such as] Malik Willis at Liberty, John Cophenhaver at North Carolina. Just people like that on the offensive side. I saw the coaches that came in place here when I saw that [former Roswell coach] Matt Kemper had gone to Etowah, and I looked at the coaches who were hired. I saw that the system was going to be more passing and more ‘air raid’ here. Then I just looked at the guys who were here with [receiver] Marquis Willis and Mike Fitzgerald and the offensive line we had. I knew I would have a good chance to succeed. I just looked at it as a chance and just as a good opportunity. There really weren’t many cons to it.”
3. You’ve put up all these numbers so far in Class 7A ball. What is the reaction you’ve seen on the recruiting front? “I’ve definitely had more colleges in contact with me. That is based on just my ability this year to extend plays. That is what they all wanted to see. Make throws on the run. Get out of the pocket. I almost have as many rushing yards now as I did all of last year. I’m just a big competitor. I had to transfer, come in here, compete and win the job. I will compete every day and will do anything to win. That’s what I have to offer all of them.”
4. What’s your assessment of Roswell this season vs. last year? “For all of our coaches last year it was all their first year except for our head coach under the system. Just getting everyone familiar and I mean [four-star junior cornerback prospect] Ethan Nation is starting to play offense more at receiver this year. We’ve just got younger guys who are starting to step up more this year.”
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