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Centerville • Perhaps high school football's biggest contribution to society comes when coaches take the time to teach the young men on their teams not only football strategy but the importance of discipline both on and off the field.

That has certainly been the journey of senior Viewmont slot receiver/running back/kick returner/linebacker Jacob Barnum the past few seasons.

Football comes naturally to this gifted athlete. But he has faced struggles in the classroom — he has struggled, at times, even getting to class.

"You have to have motivation to do better in the classroom, or it doesn't happen on the field," Barnum said as he came to school this week despite fighting a cold and a nagging thigh bruise. "You have to learn to be a good person in the community, school and in the classroom. Football has been like a stress reliever. I get behind sometimes [in class], and it's stressful catching up. There is a lot to do."

Jacob and his brother Jared, who graduated from Viewmont last year and is playing at Snow College, are two of four adopted children of Bruce and Janna Barnum.

Both have been part of a football resurgence at Viewmont High under coach Scott Ditty, who has slowly built the Vikings program.

A victory over perennial Region 2 power Davis in the first league game followed by a heartbreaking 13-6 loss at Syracuse last Friday has the Vikings in a five-way fight for the league title.

Janna Barnum praises Ditty for helping her two sons not only be good football players but to find discipline in school.

"He has given them a schedule they can keep and taught them the responsibility of getting to practice," said the mom, who played college basketball at Ricks College and still plays with friends twice a week. "He helps them be eligible."

Barnum said her son had a rough summer. He had citizenship grades to make up as well as a few academic problems to correct.

"He wanted to skip class here and there, but he learned," she said. "He is going to class every time his senior year. He learned a good lesson."

Bruce Barnum said football helped keep both his sons motivated to stay in school, and that the Viewmont football staff has proved invaluable in working on academics.

"They were very good at trying to keep these kids on the path of getting to graduate," he said. "Coach Ditty said football is a great game, but it is secondary to getting an education. He also teaches the kids, 'You are citizens of this community.' … They have had a positive influence on school there."

Barnum said his son Jared, who also had trouble getting to class in high school, benefited greatly from football, which helped him graduate at Viewmont and to go on to college.

"Here, he would miss classes or didn't want to go to school," said the father. "Down there, he his actually enjoying his classes and the atmosphere. To me, that's the biggest change. If you get the education, the football will come."

Jacob Barnum readily admits that without football, he doesn't know what he would be doing. He said he had plenty of time to think this year, as he had to make up his citizenship miscues by doing cleaning chores and other labor.

"I had a long time to think," he said. "I decided I'm not going to get ["Unacceptable" ratings] again. I learned how worth it is to get back on the field."

Ditty said that he tailors out-of-classroom programs for his athletes on a case-by-case basis.

"For some kids, a 3.0 average is an underachievement," he said. "For others, a 3.0 is a massive achievement of effort and commitment. If my players are showing poor grades, we do regular grade checks. They have mandatory study hall, and to get out of study hall, they have to get their grades raised to a certain level."

Ditty said he and Barnum have been through a lot together, as he has given one of his most gifted athletes checkpoints to reach before he can start playing again.

Barnum said some of those included working on 100-page academic packets from the Northridge Learning Center that he completed over a difficult summer to make up the work.

The Vikings star said he views his coach almost the same as he does his parents.

"He is family to me," said Barnum. "He has taught me so much and helped me through academics and getting me eligible. He has taken care of me by giving options to make up classes and offering help when I needed it."

The coach calls Barnum a tremendous natural athlete who he is trying to persuade to run the 100 and 200 meters in track this spring.

"He has got natural talent with a huge upside," said Ditty. "There are a lot of schools that are interested in him. That is why we are working so hard on academics, so he can pursue his goal to play college football."

As for being one of four adopted children, Barnum was adopted at birth, so this family is all he has known. His birth mother allowed Janna to be in the delivery room and cut the cord.

"It's a normal lifestyle," he smiled. "I've known that this was how it's supposed to be my entire life. I've grown up in a happy Mormon family with strong parents who stay together and help each other out as a family."

Janna said she and husband Bruce have never looked at their kids as adopted.

"They are my kids, like any parent," she said. "We have gone places and family members have noticed people staring at us because both of us are blonde and we have four little dark kids. But I was too busy take care of my family to notice this."

Bruce Barnum said the biggest concern of being an adoptive parent was not knowing the medical background of the birth parents.

"There have been no problems," he said. "They have always been just our kids."

And those kids have helped Viewmont improve as a football program while the football program has helped them with life.

Twitter: @tomwharton —

Football schedule

Thursday's games

Brighton at Jordan

Herriman at Riverton Kearns at Olympus

Friday's games

All games 7 p.m. except where noted

Alta at Mountain View

Altamont at Layton Christian, 4 p.m.

Beaver at South Sevier

Ben Lomond at Bear River

Bonneville at East

Carbon at Grantsville

Clearfield at Fremont

Copper Hills at Cottonwood

Corner Canyon at Timpanogos

Cyprus at Murray

Dixie at Cedar

Emery at Morgan

Enterprise at San Juan

Grand at North Sevier

Gunnison at South Summit

Hunter at Bingham

Hurricane at Desert Hills

Juab at Delta

Judge at Ridgeline

Kanab at Wayne

Layton at Granger

Lehi at American Fork

Maple Mountain at Spanish Fork

Millard at American Leadership

Monticello at Parowan

Mountain Crest at Weber

North Sanpete at Manti

Northridge at Sky View

Northridge at Fremont

Ogden at Payson

Orem at Timpview

Park City at Stansbury

Pleasant Grove at Bountiful

Provo at Skyridge

Rich at Diamond Ranch

Richfield at Canyon View

Salem Hills at Wasatch

Skyline at Hillcrest

Snow Canyon at Pine View

Springville at Uintah

Summit Academy at North Summit

Syracuse at Davis

Tooele at Logan

Union at Juan Diego

Viewmont at West

West Jordan at Taylorsville

Westlake at Lone Peak

Woods Cross at Box Elder