Football: 2016 Garnet Valley team deserves to be celebrated

TOWAMENCIN >> It was not the speech that Mike Ricci wanted to give. The Garnet Valley head coach wanted one message to resonate with his players following Friday night’s 48-38 defeat to top-seeded North Penn in the District 1 Class 6A final: celebrate what you did. The Jaguars (11-3) advanced as far as they did when many people weren’t giving a 10th seed from the Central League much of a chance. And that makes what they accomplished so special. The Jags won three games and played for a title in the highest classification in District 1. That is, until the 2016 Jaguars came along.

“It’s a high school football game and you can’t win every game. We’re big on controlling what we can control,” said Ricci, the coach at GV since 1986, except for one season. “We control our attitude, we control our attitude and we control how we play together. We did a phenomenal job with that throughout the year. Are we disappointed we didn’t win the game? Absolutely, but we’re going to choose to celebrate all the great things we did throughout the season because this team — and this season — deserves to be celebrated.”

The Jags didn’t claim a Central League title, but in many ways what they achieved in the postseason is more satisfying than winning a league title. They hit the road and they conquered.

“Making it this far, seeing all the alumni coming out and showing their support, it means a lot,” said senior Jacob Buttermore, who ended his spectacular year with more than 1,000 yards rushing and the school’s single-season scoring record. Buttermore had a rushing and a receiving touchdown and also kicked a 33-yard field. “It means more than winning a Central League title because of who we beat. We’re road warriors.”

The Jags set many records, both team and individual. They scored more points in a season (528) than ever before. “We can appreciate what we did,” Buttermore said, “but it might just take a little while.”

Not only was Garnet Valley vying for its fourth straight win away from home, it was looking to spoil yet another undefeated season. First it was No. 3 Neshaminy, and then it was No. 2 Perkiomen Valley. Two monsters down, but still one to go. North Penn was simply too talented.

Click HERE to read the full article.