State Champions Return Home To Hero's Welcome

POWERS---They were almost two hours behind schedule, but the North Central Jets were still the toast of the town Saturday night as they returned to the U.P. after winning their second straight state championship earlier in the day at Michigan State University.

Actually, the boys were the toast of three towns: Powers, Spalding, and Hermansville, as they were treated to a police and fire-escorted parade throughout the area.

The gym was packed, with the bleachers full of people, young and old, dressed in red, black and white. One of the supporters on hand Saturday night was Puffy Miller, who is with the Spalding Township Volunteer Fire Department.

"I tell ya', they've got a good backing," Miller said. "Very good support. People are very proud of the Jets here. They've done a wonderful thing here in the last few years."

Also on hand was Rob Granquist, who was on last year's state championship Jets team and now plays football at Concordia University in Chicago.

"I was really excited for them," Granquist said. "They've put in a lot of work in the off-season and they've played some tough games. They had some adversity downstate, and they came out on top. The whole community now is really behind this group of guys. They're a great group of guys. You couldn't ask for a better group."

North Central High School Athletic Director Joey Pontbriand says the community supports the kids because they kids work hard and stay out of trouble.

"These kids are wonderful," Pontbriand said. "The athletes who are produc ed here at North Central are not only athletes, but are also scholars. They go downstate, we don't even need chaperones for them. They're great kids."

The Jets players were excited to see all of the community support.

"To have the support of this community, it truly means a lot," said NCA junior Jason Whitens. "They deserve every little bit of it (success). They support us through everything, and we couldn't thank them enough."

"It was absolutely amazing," NCA junior Seth Polfus added. "To see all of the fire trucks and stuff. I mean, we must have had 200 people in here. It's unreal the support we have."

With two state championships in basketball and one in football in the last twelve months, many of the Jets players now get ready for the start of baseball, golf, and track seasons.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the celebration, and to hear audio interviews.