MARIETTA, Ga. — The Marietta High School football team just won the state championship for the first time since 1967, and the entire town is celebrating.
“This school, this city, it goes hand-in-hand,” head football coach Richard Morgan said. “Everybody in this city supports it, the kids loved it, the community environment is great. So I think it's special for everybody that's ever gone to Marietta.”
Marietta defeated Lowndes 17-9 on Saturday at Georgia State Stadium, and Morgan says the turnout was incredible.
“There must have been 15,000 people from Marietta there,” he said. “It was packed, and it was great. It felt like a home game. So to be able to give back to them and thank them for showing up that night and giving us that support, I think it's kind of important.”
The team and coaching staff were paraded through downtown Marietta Wednesday evening, which is tradition when a team wins big.
“We're celebrating a state championship and all the things these kids have accomplished both on the field and off it,” Superintendent Grant Rivera said. “There's just been so much energy, and obviously it's a great time around the holidays. We have a lot for which to be thankful.”
“It just makes it all that much more special, because everybody is in that Christmas holiday mood and then you're celebrating a state championship, then we're flying to Las Vegas tomorrow to play in a bowl game, so it's just non-stop excitement,” Coach Morgan added.
The Las Vegas bowl is the tournament of state champions. Marietta will be playing Eastside Catholic from Washington, and a team from Hawaii will be playing a team from Florida the next day.
"It's great, it's exciting. It's never happened before, and so the kids are excited," Morgan continued. "Most of them have never been to Las Vegas, so it's a great situation. It's a way to end the careers of a lot of my guys.”
Rivera says he can’t be at the game, which starts at 8 p.m. Las Vegas time, but he’ll be watching - and is inviting the Marietta community, too.
“We're having a community viewing party at Glover Park Brewery here in Marietta,” he said. “I'll be joining so many members of our community at 11. It's not usually when I start watching a football game, but in this case I'll be glued to the TV.”
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