City, others recognize Kennedy state title
Everyone loves to jump on the bandwagon of a winner — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s been great to see how the community showed its support during and after the John F. Kennedy football team’s trek to the Division VII state championship.
The city of Warren will recognize the team on Saturday at Courthouse Park, and Covelli Enterprises will host the team at a dinner Monday at O’Charley’s restaurant.
Another sign of community support was evident by the number of area businesses that advertised in the special section printed in Friday’s edition of the Tribune Chronicle.
It’s always a good feeling when you think how willing a community is to recognize and/or support its young people.
Certainly the crowds grew as the Eagles advanced throughout the playoffs as they do when any area teams in any sport make long runs into the postseason. More friends and family members start showing up to games and fans, coaches and even players from local opponents also take more interest.
One can envision LaBrae and Girard players and coaches thinking that they had a shot at beating the state champs if one or two plays had gone a different way. And what about league opponents Villa Angela-St. Joseph, which beat the Eagles, and St. Thomas Aquinas, which lost in overtime?
Obviously, the media coverage increases as a team gets deeper into the playoffs, and thanks are in order here for JFK coach Jeff Bayuk who was more than gracious in his co-operation with us and the rest of the media.
JFK’s state title is certainly something to brag about for Mahoning Valley high school football fans and followers. Whether or not it raises the status of Valley football or not is debatable. The level of football played here — well above average compared to the rest of the state, bordering on very good — is what it is and the result of the state title game wasn’t going to change it that much.
An interesting facet of the Eagles’ title run was how JFK stuck with a run-oriented offense in this day of video game passing attacks and 55-48 games. The consistent ground game was a perfect complement to Kennedy’s stifling defense which most would agree was the key to the state title.
COMMENTS