Wood Celebrates State Championship

The long hours in the weight room, the two-a-day practices, the heat of the Friday night lights and the grind of the football field have all ended for the 2013 Archbishop Wood Vikings. All that is left is the enduring glow of an incredible, come from behind performance in last week's 22-10 state championship victory against Bishop McDevitt at Hersheypark Stadium.

Riding atop a firetruck provided by the Hartsville Fire Company, the champions and their coach Steve Devline were escorted by the Archbishop Wood drumming corps and cheerleading squad through the Nativity of Our Lord parking lot, onto Street Road and York Road before pulling in front of the high school.

On stage of the high school auditorium, some notable guests and Archbishop Wood grads such as Warminster Supervisor Dan McPhillips, State Representatives Tom Murt and Margeurite Quinn and District Judge Daniel Finello congratulated the players on the second championship in three years, a first for the PIAA's Region 12.

After Coach Devlin handed out championship medals to the team's senior players, the Archbishop Wood Robotics Team kept the party going with some t-shirts launched by a remote controlled cannon. The ceremony ended with a rendition of the school's alma mater.