Despite early adversity, Ritter captures state football title

The football team of Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis is pictured on Nov. 25 in Lucas Oil Stadium after winning the Indiana class 2A state football championship. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

Coach Ty Hunt didn’t have to think a long time to find the perfect saying to capture the state championship season of the 2016 football team of Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis:

“Those who believe will find the strength to finish.”

That motto will be emblazoned on a poster that will recall a season in which the Ritter Raiders lost four of their first five games this year, before putting together a 10-game winning streak that ended with a 28-6 win in the Indiana

class 2A state championship over Eastbrook High School on Nov. 25.

“The guys really continued to battle. That bonded them,” says Hunt about his players who finished their season with that convincing victory at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. “They overcame adversity. There was a ‘no quit’ desire in each of them.”

It was a season unlike any other for Hunt, a 21-year veteran coach who has now led Cardinal Ritter to three state championships since becoming head coach in 2006.

“I’ve never had a season start like this one, not at all,” he says. “We had four plays that stopped us from being

2 and 0. As a coaching staff, we talked to the team about eliminating those mistakes, and we continued to watch film to see the things we were successful at. You have to stay together as a collective group. And once we started making those plays on a consistent basis, it really helped.”

So did the leadership of the team’s captains: Trevor Browder, Max Egenolf, Avery Hall, Diomoni Small, Stephen Timmons and Zach Yetter.

“My hat goes off to those guys,” Hunt says. “The captains did a great job of having these guys believe in each other.”

Hunt also praised the efforts of the assistant coaches, the school’s administration, the families of the players, and the spiritual guidance provided by the school’s chaplain coordinator, Father Matthew Tucci.

“They’re truly the heart of it,” he says.

There’s also the heart of a team that fought through the tough times.

“You’re going to face adversity,” Hunt says. “When you’re down, you have to pick yourself off the ground and continue on. It’s not only on the football field, but life in general. We talk about not only being a champion on the field, but being a champion in life.” †