VAN WERT, Ohio — For one Ohio city, there’s only one team to cheer for in the football state championship, and the entire community is making sure its voice is heard.

What You Need To Know

  • Van Wert High School made it to the Division IV State Championship for the second time in the last 20 years

  • Town rallying around team, decorating storefronts, putting up signs and balloons.

  • Players and coaches thankful for community support

It’s something Van Wert High School Football coach Keith Recker said makes the community so special.

“Parents are making signs and making signs, and just community putting up flags across the road, and painting their businesses, and all of the theme days at the schools — the elementary school — so it’s been really neat and I think our guys really appreciate that,” said Recker.

He’s talking about his team, which is making just its second state championship appearance in 20 years, an exciting accomplishment, especially during a year that wasn’t guaranteed.

“June 1 was the only day that was promised to us, and if we got through that, then June 2 then June 3, and so on, and we told them our first scrimmage might be the only time you get to compete against somebody so do the best you can,” he said.

Now that it’s November, quarterback Owen Treece is thankful to have made it past the summer.

“I was extremely worried just because, junior year, I didn’t get a baseball season, so I knew it was possible they would cancel a sport,” Treece said.

The three-sport athlete is a senior at Van Wert High School. He said the support around him and his teammates has made the season even better.

“The community support is so key I feel like,” he said. “I mean, it’s just an awesome feeling to have especially playing that’s just more confidence that we have our community behind us.”

Driving down Van Wert’s main street, drivers see red and white balloons, signs, and even hear the team’s fight song.

While community members cannot physically take the field with their boys Sunday, Recker said they are just as important.

“Hopefully our community understands, they're all a part of what's going on here,” Recker said. “It's awesome for our players and our players really deserve this, but I think our community deserves it for everything they do, not just this year, but every year for our program.”