CANTON, Ohio — After spending much of the last 20-plus years becoming a mainstay in the playoffs, Glenville High School can now add "state champions" to their history defeating Cincinnati Wyoming Saturday in the Division IV state final.
For the 19th time since 1999, head coach Ted Ginn Sr. led the Glenville Tarblooders into a playoff birth in the OHSAA playoffs.
Not only was it Glenville's first state championship, but the first state championship by a Cleveland Metropolitan School District football team in the playoff era. The last such school to win a recognized football title of any kind was East Tech in 1920, before the Associated Press even began conducting polls.
3News' Emma Henderson was in Canton to take in the sights and sounds from Glenville's dominating victory. From the beginning of the game, the Glenville community represented not only on the football field, but in the stands.
From there Glenville converted multiple drives for touchdowns as they built up a sizable lead going into the locker room at halftime.
Cincinnati Wyoming was unable to put together anything on offense against the Glenville defense, as that defense has done for much of the season. In 15 games (nine regular season, five playoff), the Tarblooders defense held opponents to eight or less points in 12 of those games. Six of those games were shutouts.
Glenville's offense was led by running back D'Shawntae Jones who ran for three touchdowns in the victory.
The victory capped off a perfect 15-0 season for Glenville. And for long-time head coach Ted Ginn Sr., a coveted State Championship to add to his growing status among the greatest high school football coaches in Northeast Ohio history.
Congratulations to Glenville High School!