Yosick connects on a football proposal
Garaway assistant football coach Daren Yosick’s night wasn’t over once the Pirates put the Waynedale
Golden Bears to bed. Yosick proposed to longtime girlfriend Allison Stutzman, who said yes.
High school football can be an exciting and enjoyable pastime for people to watch, but on Friday, Aug. 26, the Garaway Pirates football game almost took a backseat to what took place following the game.
Garaway assistant football coach Darren Yosick formulated a plan to ask his longtime girlfriend Allison Stutzman to marry him.
The Pirates set the mood with a 33-3 win over Waynedale, and then Yosick ditched his football hat to one of a more romantic taste.
As Stutzman reveled with her friends at the north side of the Garaway stadium, Yosick calmly made his approach amid several other coaches, sidled up next to Stutzman as if nothing special was happening, and then took a knee and popped the question.
Weeks of secretive planning with Stutzman’s daughter Gracyn paid off when a stunned and thrilled Stutzman said yes.
“I really wasn’t nervous at all,” Yosick said. “At halftime I could start to feel it a bit, but we’ve been together a long time, and the last few years have been really good to us, and it was long overdue.”
For Stutzman, the proposal at a football game was the absolute best place possible, where she was among friends and family.
“This is so us,” Stutzman said. “We’re so immersed in football here at Garaway. It seems very appropriate.”
Gracyn, a senior at Garaway, proposed the event take place on this night, which was senior night at GHS. She felt it would really be neat if Yosick officially became part of the family on that special evening.
“Grace is my buddy, and she helped me immensely on this whole thing,” Yosick said. “She’s been planning this thing with me the whole way.”
Gracyn said she was so thrilled to be a part of this, and when she saw the ring being placed on her mom’s finger, she immediately started tearing up.
“I’ve waited so long for this to happen,” Gracyn said. “He’s been around since I was 7 years old, so he has been my dad, marriage or not. But I do like to see the ring and make it official.”
The ruse was almost up when Stutzman discovered a Kay Jewelers invoice at home. The quick-thinking duo came up with a cover story about how Yosick had purchased Gracyn a necklace, and the surprise stayed intact.
With so many people knowing about the surprise and ready to celebrate the night of the game, it is a wonder Stutzman didn’t know something was afoot, but she said the shocked look on her face was original.
“I had no idea, no clue,” Stutzman said. “I am not quite sure how they kept this a secret from me, but they are both in a world of trouble, as are my friends.”
Stutzman said when Yosick came into her family’s life 10 years ago, he made an immediate impact on her and her two children and has been part of the family ever since.
“He’s an amazing man,” Stutzman said of Yosick. “He has taken on my two children, his football. Players are like his kids, and he has such a huge heart.”
With this being such an unexpected adventure for Stutzman, she said they will sit down and discuss a date for the wedding, but first, she said there are other things to attend to.
“First and foremost, I need to start plotting my revenge against everyone involved,” Stutzman said. “Somehow, somewhere, I’ll get my revenge.”