30 years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible. People would not have thought to gather to celebrate as they did on Saturday. 30 years ago, the Whiting Oilers football team was almost dismantled.
But it wasn’t.
In the 2015-16 school year, the Oilers claimed “Do Work” as their motto. They did just that, bringing that blue-collar grit all the way down to Lucas Oil, where they represented The Region in the 2A State Championship game.
The runners-up received their rings at Oil City Stadium on Saturday.
“Just looking at it, it’s real pretty,” senior quarterback Stuart Glascow said. “It reminds me of all the practices, all the games… but it mainly reminds me of the State game because that is where we had to go to get these.”
Stepping on the Indianapolis turf was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Representing the 219 made it even more wholesome for Glascow.
Click here to see all the photos from the 2016 Whiting Football Ring Ceremony!
“You feel like an ant in there,” he said. “But you walk in and you see everybody, and it just excites you. Having all of those people come and support us was pretty much a newsflash, but it was awesome.”
Mayor Joe Stahura seconded the signal-caller’s sentiments.
“This team brought the community together to come down and watch them,” Stahura said. “It is really cool to see how that happened in the town, and Whiting is pretty famous for that.”
Senior wide receiver and strong safety Martin Petruf was in awe of the shiny red jewelry.
“This is the first time we have ever done this, I believe,” Petruf said. “We’ve never seen one of these rings before.”
Whiting came together for one final time to pack Oil City Stadium. Defensive coordinator Brett Jennings tipped his cap to the Oiler faithful.
“The community has always supported the school through thick and thin,” Jennings said. “These kids played for them. This was a celebration for the entire community.”
