A surprise guest speaker entered the locker room before the Falcons' .
"I had just sat down; it is kind of dark in there and I didn't realize it was him," lineman Dylan Gilroy said.
Dylan, a soft spoken junior, sat motionless when he recognized the man. He hadn't seen the man in more than a year, and hadn't expected to see him for another day or two.
"I got up and walked over to him and gave him a hug," Dylan said. "We didn't even talk for about a minute."
The guest speaker was Dylan's older brother Sean Gilroy, a U.S. Navy service member home from South Korea. Sean had surprised his mother Laura Gilroy, a teacher, in her classroom earlier in the day.
Dylan recalled his brother's greeting: "You didn't think I would miss your homecoming game, did you?"
It was a very emotional moment for the entire team to witness, Coach Max Smith said.
The team ended up pulling out a 9-6 victory against Gibbs High School.
Dylan Gilroy gets Dunedin Patch's Player of the Week honor. Here's what he and his coach have to say:
Smith: "Dylan helped dominate the line of scrimmage. Consistent pushing all game."
Patch: What future plans do you have after you leave Dunedin High?
Gilroy: I would love to play football in college. I want to stay close to home because I am really close to my mom and dad. So probably FSU (Florida State University).
P: How long have you been playing football?
G: I have been practicing on this field since I was this tall [Gilroy gestures, indicating waist-high]. I used to be the smallest and tiniest until I reached the Mighty Midgets, and that is when I started getting a lot larger.
P: What is your favorite subject in school?
G: I definitely like math. I don't pull the best grades but I like it the most.
P: Did you ever play any other sports while growing up?
G: I used to play baseball, I was good enough to play All-Stars, but it would overlap with football, so I had to quit. My mother, father and brother all played baseball.
