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Ashland roars for its Grizzlies Photo by Bob Pennell Ashland hailed its state championship football team with a parade and rally Friday. Enjoying the cheers were, from left, Jimmy Werbin, Coach Jim Nagel, Jay Kuester and Joel Smith. Townsfolk turn up the heat to honor state championship team By Peter Wong ASHLAND -- Riding in military vehicles provided by the Oregon National Guard, the Grizzly football team paraded up and down city streets Friday as this year's conquerors of Oregon's 4A football championship. People stood on the sidewalks in bitter cold and cheered the waving players. The high school band, on trucks provided by Ashland Lumber, preceded the team, and the rally squad followed on a city fire engine. Police patrol cars led and trailed the procession. The parade, pep rally beforehand and public reception afterward capped a storybook season that most observers did not predict at its start. "People said that we were going to fight for that third playoff spot," said Joel Smith, the senior fullback who caught the touchdown pass that sent last week's championship game into overtime. "But we got things rolling a bit, we believed in ourselves, we got into the playoffs and were riding high. "The town was supporting us, and that was great. But we really didn't play for them -- we played more for ourselves." Ashland went undefeated in winning the Southern Oregon Conference title. The Grizzlies beat SOC rival Roseburg 29-23, in overtime, to claim the state championship. It was Ashland's third 4A football championship in 10 seasons. Jay Kuester, the senior wide receiver who caught the winning touchdown pass, was more modest. "This is the last time I will be able to come out to express my thanks to everybody," he said. "It's been a great year." Bob Rasmussen of US Bank, one of the principal sponsors of the Oregon School Activities Association, presented the football championship trophy to Ashland as tops among the 78 Class 4A schools. "If each one had taken a turn at being a football champion, the receipt of this type of award obviously would be a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said. "It's a tribute to the leadership of a coach and assistant coaches, this dedicated team, ... the support of this school, the families and the community that are part of it." Of the 16 previous OSAA state championship banners hanging in Ashland's gym, two are for the other football titles under coach Jim Nagel -- 1989 and 1991 -- and seven for speech, all in the 1990s. Other speakers referred to the low expectations for this year's team, which followed the 1997 team that was upset in the second round of the playoffs, and Nagel's change of mind about taking over the program at Southern Oregon University. Nagel said the team ignored the early-season talk about "the players and talent that were not coming back." "But what they focused on was the potential they saw and what they dreamed. They went out and worked hard to accomplish their goal. So they didn't let what people were telling them they couldn't do get in the way of what they went out and did." Ashland won many games, including several in the playoffs, by what Mayor Cathy Shaw called "a gasp and a smile." "This was a team that a lot of people said was lucky," Nagel said. "But as we all know, our definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity. This team truly prepared for the opportunities that many other teams presented us, and we took advantage of them." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA