In the fall of 2008, the football team in Smith Center, Kansas – population: 1,931 – embarked on a quest for its fifth undefeated season, its fifth state championship, and a new state record for consecutive victories. But to do so, the Redmen faced a potentially destabilizing transition: the greatest senior class in school history had graduated, and their longtime coach, Roger Barta, was contemplating retirement.
Joe Drape, a Kansas City native and an award-winning sportswriter for The New York Times, moved his family to Smith Center to explore the way this small town revolves around “our boys” and to discover how it holds on to a way of life that is rich in value, even in tough economic times. His moving portrait of Coach Barta and the young men of Smith Center is an unforgettable American story of how hard work, patience, and love propel one small town’s success.
