COMMENTARY: The Road to Canton was everything it lived up to be

 COMMENTARY: The Road to Canton was everything it lived up to be

By Keno Sultan

Stark County Prep Press writer

www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com

CANTON--448 teams in the state of Ohio fueled up for the road to Canton and Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium for the OHSAA football playoffs. After one week, the number was reduced to 336. A week later that number was truncated to 224. As the number of playoff teams was dwindling, 112 still remained on the road but the challenges were getting arduous with each passing game.

By the time the regional finals arrived, there were teams who still had state championship aspirations. 56 were left. When the 14th week arrived, only 28 squads now had Canton in their sights. Young men who had dreams of competing for a state title practiced on Thanksgiving and had hopes of descending on to Canton for a shot at a state title.

A week later, half of the 14 teams who had hopes of a state title saw their dreams extinguished. The other half finally realized their boyhood dreams of playing for a state title. Whether it used to be Fawcett Stadium, Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, or recently before Benson Stadium's construction, Ohio Stadium, the 14 teams who were left were now competing for a coveted state championship. They were now playing in the Super Bowl of Ohio high school football. Young men who sat in the stands and looked up to their favorite players had dreams of being on that same football field and hopefully hoisting a state title someday as their favorite players they emulated or a family member who competed for the high school team.

The road to Canton was nearly complete. But only seven of the 14 teams that arrived to Benson Stadium could traverse the narrow bridge that signified their rite of passage as a state champion. 

SUPER 64. Maria Stein Marion Local players hoist their fourth straight state championship Friday morning after their 73-0 victory over Jeromesville Hillsdale in Friday's Division VII state championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The Flyers have won 64 games in a row ensuring the class of 2025 will never have lost a game in their prep careers. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

The other seven teams on the other hand saw their aspirations fall short. You could see the visible tears of grief, anguish and sorrow knowing their dream of a state title fell short. It's not easy when a team obtains a runner-up trophy but in no way does it diminish the year they had no more than it diminishes what the winning team accomplished.

The road to Canton also teaches valuable life lessons that will stay with the young men who played this weekend well after their days are over. The seniors will never put on that high school jersey again. Juniors will have one more chance. Sophomores will have two more chances and freshmen will have three more chances respectively. The seniors who competed will venture off to a college or university and compete in collegiate athletics and work toward a degree while others will never compete again but also work toward a degree. Others will enlist in a branch of government be it the Army, Navy, United States Marine Corps, Coast Guard, etc. Some will simply enter the workforce. 

One thing is for sure. Maybe 10 or 20 years down the line, the players who played for a state title will eventually become fathers. They will raise sons who someday will want to follow in the shoes they were in. Some will raise daughters. They will have loving wives and become a family.

TEARFUL EMBRACE. Cincinnati Moeller quarterback and Ohio Mr. Football winner Matt Ponatoski is embraced by a teammate after the Crusaders Division I state final loss to Powell Olentangy Liberty Friday night, 28-14. The loss stopped Moeller from a 10th state title in their program. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

High school football teaches life lessons. So does the road to Canton. And it also teaches us to appreciate the young men who have aspirations of playing for their high school team. It also teaches us to also have an appreciation for the mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who also invested their time to make sure their young men received that opportunity. It also teaches us to appreciate the educators and administrators who invested their time in those young men from as early as kindergarten up to 12th grade and referenced to them always what it means to be a student-athlete (in my case, a student-community-athlete) and obtaining satisfactory academic performance while displaying behavior embodying that role in the school.

I think about the happiness of the young men who were on that field this weekend. I also think about the sadness that they had as well. I think about the coaches who exuded excitement in their team accomplishing a title and at the same time I think about the sadness they had as their teams experienced defeat. I think about how other media covered them over the course of the season and just how they were looked up to by others who will play after them and those who played before them. I think about the sacrifices a young man made every day to get out of his bed, attend football workouts, go to school, and still be a contributing member to his community.

To the winning teams who were successful this weekend with state titles. You created memories that will last you a lifetime and will serve its purpose to you as you progress through life. Maybe one day you will return to your school as a teacher, coach or even an administrator. To the losing teams who came up short. Your setback isn't a definition of who you are. One loss doesn't diminish the hard work you invested. Out of this failure will come a life lesson and it will be one you will eventually pass down to your children as you begin your quest after high school.

HORNET RUNNER UPS. Kirtland High School players post for a picture with the Division VI runner up trophy after their 31-7 loss to Coldwater in the state title game Saturday. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press).

To Avon, Olentangy Liberty, Columbus Bishop Watterson, Marion Local, Coldwater, Ironton and Indian Valley, you all navigated through the toughest competition that the state of Ohio had to offer and you came out on top as the best in your respective divisions and are deserving of being state champions. 

To Cincinnati Anderson, Jeromesville Hillsdale, Toledo Central Catholic, Cincinnati Moeller, Kirtland, Liberty Center, and Sandusky Perkins, you have a lot to be proud of in navigating your path also through the toughest competition the state had to offer and you also found your place in Canton as well.

As another high school season ends, it has been another thrill ride. In a month from now, schools will start making their preparations for offseason conditioning and will once again prepare themselves for another 16 week march they hope will end in Canton like the 14 schools who represented their schools proudly and with dignity.

The road to Canton was everything it lived up to be. Can't wait for that road again in three hundred plus day from now.

Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.