COLUMBUS, Ohio — It has been over a week since seven high school football teams claimed OHSAA state championship titles at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

What You Need To Know

  • Olentangy Liberty's football team won the state championship

  • The community gathered on Sunday for a parade 

  • The Mayor read the team a proclamation 

A rainy day didn’t stop hundreds of Powell community members from coming out to celebrate Olentangy Liberty’s football team’s state championship win.

“None of us have ever experienced something like that. We all just embraced it and made it real,” said Lincoln Gardener, a senior linebacker on Olentangy Liberty High School’s football team.

Gardener said winning that state championship was an experience unlike no other.

“It’s kind of crazy that was my last time stepping on a football field. We went out the best possible way we could,” Gardener said.

But that state championship win wasn’t the last surreal moment for Gardener and his teammates. As everyone paraded through the streets of Powell, community members lined the streets cheering on the team and were even read a proclamation by the Mayor.

“It’s just a great bond that we all call each other brothers now for life and it’s something we’ll never forget,” said Jonah Hoying, a senior on Olentangy Liberty High School’s football team.

And the boys have many fans excited for them, and some that are hoping to achieve the same success one day.

“They’ve been so supportive of us, they show it all over, we get questions all the time, people come up to us and congratulate us, it’s been a crazy feeling,” Hoying said.