INEZ— Ganado head coach Josh Ervin may be ready to move on to the 2025 football season, but the Ganado community gathered together one more time to celebrate the 2024 state championship football team.
Tuesday night at the Inez Community Center, the Ganado Indians received their state championship rings in front of family and many fans in the community.
"I think for me the championship has kind of already settled in and I'm looking forward to 2025 already. We're at that stage," Ervin said. "But it is fun to have all the community come out one last time with the kids from last year and relive it."
Part of what made Tuesday night so special was the realization coming into it that it could be potentially the last time Ganado will have all of the coaches and players from that state championship team under one roof.
"We were talking about that as coaches; you know, this is probably the last time that every single kid is going to be in here together, at least for a little while," Ervin said. "I know we have graduation coming up, but to have every kid here and to have the community in here as well is really special."
A sentiment in the Ganado locker room and among the community throughout the season was to make history—not just the first state championship for the school but the first state championship for any football program in Jackson County.
"It's amazing to be the first ones," Ganado quarterback Bryce Ullman said. "I know Edna got really close to winning a couple of state championships and maybe even Industrial, too. But we had a tremendous amount of support from those communities as well and, after we won, I had so many people reaching out and congratulating. Today is a great sight just to see everybody and their support."
The rings were designed in part by a group of players, including Ullman.
"I was shocked, I didn't know what to say," Ullman said about seeing the rings for the first time. "I was just speechless; they're beautiful. It's definitely the best ring I've ever had in my life."
For Ganado, Tuesday night was about reminiscing. Stories were told by community members about the history of the program, and Ervin had stories from the season and about the days leading up to the game.
"I love just how everything came together for us," Ervin said. "We started the season without our starting quarterback and running back, and the kids continued to fight through adversity. We had kids step up throughout the year and they made plays when they had to. It's almost like the stars aligned."
Erin's hope now is that this can be looked at as a springboard for Ganado football and Ganado athletics as a whole moving forward.
"I think this is really special for the younger generations," Ervin said. "It's tough to win a state championship for sure. But now that Ganado has done it, I'm hoping that the younger kids look up to that and know that it is possible if we come together and work as hard as possible, we can achieve really high levels of success. That's one of the things that I'm most excited about for the community, seeing that it can be done."
