Here are 10 of our favorite quotes from the 7 Ohio high school football state championship games
After the thrill of the game itself ends, one of the many joys of sports reporting is hearing a player or coach (or both) utter that million-dollar quote.
SBLive Ohio covered all seven state championship high school football games in Canton from Thursday through Saturday, and reporters Ryan Isley and Owen MacMillan got some great postgame quotes.
Referring to the first quote on the following list of our 10 favorites, Isley noted that "as soon as he said it, I was like 'yep — using it.'"
(Kody Zantene photo by Mike Cook)
Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin
“I like physical football. Some teams try to come and make it a finesse game, and we make sure we show up and make sure it’s a football game.”
Carey offensive tackle Easton Korody
“As a lineman, I take pride in those little 3-yard plays. It really just wears down the defense, and when you have the momentum, you don’t feel it. You don’t get tired from a 17-play drive that takes seven minutes off the clock. It’s an awesome feeling knowing you can just dominate and control the game like that.”
Carey coach Jonathon Mershman
“If we got the two-point conversion, then it was 8-7, and then my goal was to never give them the ball back and we could win 8-7. You can’t win a game if you aren’t in the lead, so we went for the lead. And I know this team plays way better when we have the lead, because we know we are gonna drain the clock.”
Coldwater center Josh Kaup
“They kept changing up certain things on the D line. So every time we’d get out there, we’d be expecting one thing, then if they changed it that made it hard because we’d only see them (for) three, four plays and then we’re back on defense for eight or nine minutes.”
Clinton-Massie quarterback Kody Zantene
“We have had that (bootleg play) in our back pocket for a long time. Everybody has been saying all we do is smash-mouth up the middle, and my dad drew that play up and it worked. I have to find him and tell him I love him.”
Versailles quarterback Carson Bey
“From us putting that first point on the board, I knew from there we had it locked in. We had them where we wanted the whole game.”
Winton Woods coach Chad Murphy
“I would love to tell you I had time to yell at them and tell them all these great quotes, but no. You have to rely on your guys and rely on your leadership.”
Chardon linebacker Nathanael Sulka
“We’re just constantly encouraging each other and getting on each other to play faster, play more violent. We will tell each other, ‘this is a stop right here, three and out, they aren’t getting past the 40.’ Whatever the situation, we set a goal, and we achieved the goal.”
Badin linebacker Brady Imhoff
“They hit really freaking hard."
St. Edward running back Danny Enovitch
"These guys mean the world to me. They are my brothers for life, and we will never forget this.”
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STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME STORIES
Division I
Division II
Division III
Back-to-back state champion Chardon becomes the first 16-0 team ever in Ohio high school football
Division IV
Division V
Versailles ends Kirtland’s nation-long 55-game win streak with a state championship celebration
Division VI
Division VII
Marion Local sets the Ohio record with its 12th state championship in a rout of Newark Catholic
