Fresno State’s first commitment follows through on National Signing Day
Dillon Root is known for his speed and agility as a running back, but he couldn’t dodge the sharp pain that was throbbed from his abdominal area after colliding with a player while attempting to recover a fumble.
Trailing 16-7 in the second quarter, the 2011 Fresno State signee knew he wanted to continue playing if he was going to lead his team to a come-from-behind victory in the Central Section Division II playoffs.
So Root fought on””despite the pain.
“It felt like I had a bruised rib or something,” Root said. “It happened midway through the second quarter and I just kept playing with it and [the pain] kept getting worse and worse. I just wanted to finish the game.”
Root finished the game, and later discovered he had a lacerated kidney. But through the second half Root carried the Redwood Rangers to a 29-22 overtime win over the Hoover Patriots, rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown on 25 painful carries.
The first-round victory would be Root’s final high school game. Without the star back, the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs the following week.
But Root’s toughness is just one reason why Fresno State head coach Pat Hill offered him a scholarship.
“[He] played the whole game with it and got rushed to the hospital afterwards,” Hill said. “Very, very tough.”
Although Root’s injury ended his season, Root’s legacy stretches more than half a century of football tradition at Redwood in Visalia. In his three-year varsity career, the 6-foot, 185-pound back broke eight school records: most career rushing yards, most career touchdowns, most career points, most rushing yards, touchdowns and points in a season, and most touchdowns and yards in a game.
Root ran for 3,653 yards and 53 touchdowns in a Ranger uniform, and as a senior rushed for more than 1,800 yards and 29 TDs.
Despite his decorated prep career, Root knows that the credit for his performance should be sprinkled around and believes the recipe to greatness trails farther than that.
“I just felt like I couldn’t do it without my team,” Root said. “That’s what a lot of people overlook, like ‘He’s a real good player’ but I couldn’t do it without every else. It’s a team thing. Me rushing for all those yards started with the snap to the center, to the quarterback handing it off, to the blocking. I felt like it’s more of a team record than just me.”
Root was the first player in Hill’s 15th recruiting class to make an oral commitment to Fresno State. Root said he had an offer on the table from Nevada. Pac-12 schools Washington, Arizona State, Cal and Stanford even courted the back.
But along with his toughness, Hill took note of another of Root’s admirable attributes.
“Dillon Root was the first athlete to commit and he stayed with his commitment throughout the recruiting process ”” never taking any other visits, highly loyal,” Hill said.
Root decided to stick with Fresno State because of everything that the program stands for and its strong tradition of developing runners.
“They preach all the same values that my father preached to me growing up ”” about becoming a man and taking on responsibility,” Root said. “That’s what they’re going to teach to me. I feel that it’s real homey. The coaches and the players and the relationships they have with each other. It’s also a Valley thing.”
Root brings a blend of size, speed and strength to a Fresno State rushing attack that was decimated by injuries in 2010. He ran a handheld 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds and also excelled in track at Redwood clocking in a 10.8-100 meter dash in the CIF state finals.
“I think Dillon’s that kind of guy that can really develop into that type of running back that’s a physical downhill runner,” Hill said, “but has the breakaway, accelerating speed [too].”
Root said that he wants to add 10 pounds to his frame before he enrolls in the fall.
But with his legacy firmly planted back at his alma mater high school, Root now has his vision set on making history elsewhere.
“I want to leave probably the same stamp that I left at Redwood if I could,” he said. “I want to be known as one of the best.”