The Columbus East football players channeled their inner Beyoncé Thursday night.
They put a ring on it.
Four months after winning the Class 5A state title, the Olympians received their shining silver. They picked up their state championship rings in a ceremony at the school.
“It’s pretty rewarding,” senior offensive tackle Zach Clark said. “It’s kind of like that last icing on the cake of our state run. It feels a lot better than last year.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
That’s because last year, East’s rings were for a state runner-up finish. They had fallen to Westfield 16-13 in the 5A title game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
This year, the Olympians knocked off Kokomo 42-28 to win their second state title in the past five years and third overall.
“It just brought back all the memories of our senior season,” senior safety Ethan Summa said. “It brought back the state championship, what it felt like to complete that and finally get ahold of first place. Going there and then not getting (the title in 2016) motivated us the next year.”
The new rings are somewhat similar to last year’s state runner-up rings. The face of this year’s rings have the words “State Champions” surrounding white diamonds with an orange “CE” in the middle.
The words “Columbus East” and the Olympian flame are on one side, while a player’s name and “2017” surround a helmet on the other side.
“It’s super exciting and a dream-come-true,” senior center Cole McCarter said. “It finally feels like I got my reward from winning.”
Senior quarterback Josh Major and senior running back Jamon Hogan both said getting the rings shows that the hard work they and the team put in.
Major, who is headed to DePauw, and Hogan, who will play at Marian, shared The Republic Football Player of the Year honor the past two years and were Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 All-State selections this season.
“To be back with these guys again is really great,” Major said. “It’s something we’ve all been looking forward to for a long time.”
Thursday’s ring ceremony at East was the first time the graduating seniors and returning players had met as a group since their banquet. Linebacker Charlie Burton graduated in December and hadn’t seen a lot of his former teammates since then.
Burton is recovering from labrum surgery and plans to play baseball next year at Hanover.
“It felt really good to see everyone have smiles, laughing, telling jokes,” Burton said. “It brought back memories.”
Cathy Wichman, mother of junior cornerback Jonah Wichman, picked up an extra ring to give to Jackie Garn, mother of former East player Abbott Garn. Abbott was killed in a February 2017 accident in which Jonah Wichman was behind the wheel. Jonah Wichman and Abbott Garn were best friends, and the families remain close.
Veteran East coach Bob Gaddis told the players about the significance of the rings before they came forward to pick them up.
“When they get a chance to see this for the rest of their lives, it’s going to be something that they’ll always remember,” Gaddis said. “It is special. (This is) a group I know I’m always going to remember.”
