The
Mansfield Senior High football team, runner-up in the Div. III state
championship game, acknowledges cheers and applause at a school assembly Monday
afternoon. “Close your eyes,” Principal Marinise Harris instructed the Senior High football team as the Tygers sat before her during an assembly Monday afternoon in Pete Henry Gym.
“Close your eyes and listen,” she said. “When you start thinking that you didn’t win, this is what I want you to remember.”
From both
sides of the gym came a thunderous ovation of cheers and applause from
students, staff and community residents.
The Tygers
came up a touchdown short Friday afternoon at Canton, losing 14-7 in overtime
to Trotwood-Madison in the Div. III state championship game.
“We are so, so, so, so proud of you!” said Harris, a Senior High alumna. “You did not let us down!”
Superintendent Stan Jefferson declared the Tygers to be the best team in Ohio with the best coach in Ohio, Chioke Bradley, and the best coaching staff in Ohio. Jefferson was Senior High’s head football and track coach during Bradley’s high school career.
“What you have done is unbelievable and historic,” Jefferson said. “I want you to know how proud we are, not only for what you did on the field but what you have done off of it. You have galvanized the TY-Tyger community.”
The
superintendent said most people do not understand how hard individual team
members worked year around to build their strength and skills.
“Yours is a sacred brotherhood of trust. I can’t tell you how proud we are. We love you,” Jefferson said.
Gary Feagin, a Senior High graduate and current vice president of the board of education, said the team had ignited “a fire in my heart.” He said he had received calls from Tyger graduates living out of state who expressed their pride in the team’s success.
Feagin saluted the team’s sportsmanship, saying he was particularly proud to see Tygers helping opposing players up “after you knocked them out of their socks.”
“If I told you every day how proud I am, I would still be a day short,”Feagin said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
When it was Bradley’s turn to speak, he saluted the team on the gym floor and his assistant coaches on the podium behind him.
“I thank God for the opportunity to do all we did with these young men. It was truly a blessing,” he said.
Bradley
recalled the long hours the team had spent in the weight room, running the
steps at Arlin Field and participating in football camps in and out of state.
“We coached our kids hard, I want you to know that. But we love each and every one of them,” he said, triggering another burst of applause. “I hope and pray they take away the life skills that football teaches and be great men of high character.”
Bradley emphasized that not one particular play or person dictated the outcome of Friday’s game and he expressed the team’s gratitude for more than 5,000 Tyger fans who made the trip to Canton.
“We appreciate the community as a whole. It is amazing to see how the game of football cam bring the whole city together,” he said. “To watch everyone come together was truly amazing … to see all of those fans in the stands at Canton.”
Looking directly at his team, Bradley added, “We made history, you all. Nothing can take that away from us.”
As Bradley
called their names, each player received a state championship runner-up medal
from athletic director Kevin Porter. Bradley held high the state runner-up trophy.
In a special
ceremony before the assembly closed, Harris recognized three team seniors who
will graduate on Dec. 19 to begin their college football careers. They are
Angelo Grose, Michigan State University, Anthony Hawkins, Bowling Green State
University, and Clay Caudill, University of Toledo.