The 3rd Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard visited the Steel City Area once again for the third consecutive year on Thursday evening, January 17th at an Award Celebration Assembly in their Auditorium. The Pittsburgh area tour stops in past years included visits to McKeesport and Upper St Clair, but this season was about the remarkable offensive showing by the Jeannette Jayhawks football team and their premier quarterback Terrell Prior.
As the team filed into the auditorium, each player was handed the commemorative Tour of Champions t-shirts by PA Guardsmen, Specialist Jessie Maund and SSG Todd Frye.
Then the excitement began. The Jeannette High School cheerleaders and football players ran into the auditorium to a thunderous applause. The cheerleaders performed on stage and set the tone for the celebratory evening.
Athletic Director Bob Murphy kicked off the awards ceremony by offering tremendous praise to the hard work the team put forth throughout the season. The proud AD also thanked the team in front of family, fans and students for the great excitement the team gave to the school and community in its run to a 16-0 championship season.
Each player was then given a medal for its championship season. One by one, players were called to the stage to receive their award. Afterwards, MaxPreps representative, the smooth Sam Ritter in his Texas drawl congratulated Jeannette on a record-breaking championship season. Sam reaped praise on Jeannette's #5 National Ranking from over 16,000 football teams nationwide. Sam then introduced Specialist Jessie Maund from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Specialist Maund grabbed the mic on stage in front of the Tour of Champions banner and asked Coach Reitz and the captains to take center stage. He congratulated the entire team, the coach and the captains and then presented the National Ranking trophy to Coach Reitz to a very loud and enthusiastic applause. Coach Reitz thanked MaxPreps for its ranking, the Guard, players, coaches and the Jeannette community for its support.
Finally, the local media including four local television stations took pictures and interviewed the team; and the evening concluded with the Jayhawk's raucous team chant.
