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Bishop Murry bargains at Ursuline rally: Win the state title for a day off school
Ursuline Vs. Liberty Union
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If you don’t get us a day off Monday, you’re in real hot water,” Father Kenneth Miller, associate principal and a 1964 Ursuline alumnus, warned the team during the rally, picking up the Bishop’s theme.
By Harold Gwin
YOUNGSTOWN — If the state championship isn’t enough, the Ursuline High School football team has another incentive to play for when it meets Findlay Liberty-Benton on Saturday: a day off for the school.
Win the game and everyone can take Monday off, Bishop George Murry of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown promised the team at the conclusion of a Thanksgiving Liturgy at the school Wednesday.
The student body presented the bishop with an Ursuline jersey and a helmet signed by the team and its coaches minutes before moving to the school auditorium for a send-off rally for the team.
“If you don’t get us a day off Monday, you’re in real hot water,” Father Kenneth Miller, associate principal and a 1964 Ursuline alumnus, warned the team during the rally, picking up the bishop’s theme.
His comments drew smiles from the players and cheers from the student body.
The band played fight songs, and the cheerleaders led cheers, but it was the comments from Father Miller about how the Fighting Irish will run over, pass over and otherwise defeat Liberty-Benton that got the students fired up.
“I come from the old school. It’s important to get them charged,” he said later.
Ross Kollar, of Boardman, another Ursuline alumnus and a member of the 2000 state championship football team, addressed the rally crowd, urging the team to represent the 100-plus years of Ursuline tradition when it takes the field.
“Go out there. Be champions,” he said.
Kollar, now working in sales for Canfield Industries, played guard and middle linebacker on the 2000 team and said he and about 15 members of that team are still close and get together frequently.
That team made a commitment to itself and one another to be one, “a brotherhood,” he recalled, adding that their hard work and determination paid off with the ultimate high eight years ago.
Kollar said he won a number of individual accolades for his performance on the gridiron but pointed out that none of that would have been possible without “my team.”
People want to know about the hard work and dedication that went into earning the championship ring those players now wear, Kollar told the crowd, holding up his hand to show his own ring.
Win Saturday’s game and doors will open for you, he told the team.
The rally honored this year’s senior players and Coach Dan Reardon, and the team captains also took the stage.
Liberty-Benton has won some top recognition this season, but Ursuline is up to the challenge, Reardon said.
“We have something to prove on Saturday, and we will,” he promised the student body.
The game is set for 3 p.m. at Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Tickets will be on sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the ticket window in the Ursuline gym lobby, 750 Wick Ave.
gwin@vindy.com