Thursday, November 29, 2018
By SAMANTHA PHILLIPS
sphillips@vindy.com
GIRARD
All of the extra training the Girard Indians have done may pay off this weekend at the Division IV state championship game.
“It’s a great honor,” said city schools athletic director Nick Cochran.
If the Indians beat Cincinnati’s Wyoming Cowboys at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on Saturday, it will be the first football team in Girard’s history to claim the title of state football champions.
“Our kids have done a great job by keeping their composure ... just trying to worry about the team ahead of us,” Cochran said. “We are working every day to get better.”
The community is invited to wish the team good luck Friday about 8 p.m. as it departs for Canton from Girard High School.
The Indians will leave after Girard’s
varsity basketball game, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Cochran said the send-off could start a little earlier depending on what time the basketball game ends.
“It’s pretty exciting to see the community rally around the team,” said Girard schools Superintendent David Cappuzzello.
The team will be wearing its championship shirts Friday night, which are available for purchase at Knightline Embroidery on West Liberty Street.
The shirts have “Won” printed across the front, and Patrick Rubinic, owner of Knightline Embroidery, said it symbolizes more than just potentially winning the championship game.
It’s also wordplay on the word “one”: “One team, one town, one family,” he said.
The store is selling the championship merchandise today, tomorrow and Saturday morning, and will likely sell more next week. There are T-shirts for $10, long-sleeved shirts for $15 and hoodies for $20.
Rubinic coached many of the football players when they were kids in basketball or baseball. He has watched them grow up, so he has a personal connection to the team.
“It’s more than business,” he said. “It’s close to my heart.”
There has been a buzz in the city, brewing before the big game, he said.
“It’s a source of pride,” Rubinic said. “They are good athletes, but also a good bunch of kids and a great coaching staff. And their actions make us proud, on and off the field.”
Businesses throughout the city’s downtown district are wishing the team good luck.
“Beat Wyoming,” encourages Dairy Queen’s sign.
Canterino’s Sports Bar and Grill’s sign reads, “Congrats Indians, ain’t nuthin but a G Thang.”
“Girard, Wyoming is no challenge for you,” the Subway sign proclaims.
During Friday’s basketball game, the 1993 state champion varsity basketball team will be honored. This week, that team will have dinner with the Indians. Cochran hopes the 1993 team can give the football team insight on how it became state champion.
“That team in 1993 were underdogs all year, and this football team – nobody thought we would make it,” he said.
Cappuzzello said the Indians’ journey to the state championship has been a fun and emotional ride.
“It couldn’t happen to a better group of kids,” he said.