OHSAA football finals notebook: St. Edward's Gio Kennedy knows Stark County well, dad, uncle starred at North Canton
CANTON – Gio Kennedy's experience playing in Stark County has been fairly limited.
The St. Edward guard played games at Massillon the last two seasons. On Friday night, Kennedy started for the Eagles as they took on Springfield in the Division I state championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
However, Kennedy's Stark County roots run deep. In fact, those roots stretch not too far from where he was playing for the state title in nearby North Canton.
"It means a lot, especially to my dad," he said after the Eagles' 23-13 victory over Springfield. "He was born and raised down here. To be able to come down here and win it, it just means a lot. He's going to be so happy tonight."
Kennedy's father, Frank, graduated from Hoover High School in 1995. A second-team Division II All-Ohio offensive lineman, he went on to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Gio Kennedy honors his dad in multiple ways while on the field. It's both in the number he wears and a Hoover T-shirt from his dad's playing days that he often wears under his St. Ed's jersey.
"I've worn (No.) 62 just like him the whole time," Gio said. "It's been a great experience. My dad's been my role model my whole life. Just being able to wear that shirt means a lot to me."
The younger Kennedy's uncle, Jason, also was a standout for the Vikings. A first-team All-Ohio linebacker as a senior in 1999, he was named the Federal League Player of the Year.
Happy homecoming for Winton Woods assistant
Spencer Kummer probably wouldn't have cared where Winton Woods won its Division II state championship on Thursday night. That it happened in Canton, though, certainly added a lot to the moment.
Kummer grew up in Plain Township and graduated from GlenOak in 2016 before going on to Ohio University. His uncle is current Golden Eagle head football coach and athletics director Scott Garcia.
Garcia stood beaming on the sideline as Kummer celebrated with the rest of the Warriors following their 21-10 win over Hoban on Thursday. Kummer, though, stopped short of claiming some sort of bragging rights over his uncle.
"I'm just excited to be here," said Kummer, who coaches the Winton Woods offensive line. "It doesn't matter. I wouldn't be here without him and all my family being here supporting me. I just can't believe I'm here right now."
Kummer's position group played a huge role in Winton Woods' win. That unit owned the line of scrimmage to the tune of 288 rushing yards, including 153 by TyRek Spikes.
That group, like the rest of the team, had to adjust to a new coaching staff this season. Kummer came on when Chad Murphy was hired as the new Warrior head coach.
"When we came in, the guys, they really had to adapt to everything," Kummer said. "All new style, coaching. A lot of these guys hadn't really played a lot of varsity minutes. We had a lot of learning to do. It was a long summer and we came out and we struggled a lot throughout the season, especially for me with all of the blocking assignments. But we figured it out."
New team, same situation for Clinton-Massie
Clinton-Massie was staring at a halftime deficit against a Youngstown parochial team in the Division IV state championship game being played in Stark County. Only, the Falcons were able to rally for a dramatic victory.
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It, obviously, could've been Friday's game against Ursuline, where Clinton-Massie scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion with 45 seconds remaining to turn a 28-7 deficit into a 29-28 victory. Or, it could've been the 2013 Falcons.
"We talked about the 2013 team," said Clinton-Massie running back Colton Trampler, who ran for a team-high 117 yards on Friday. "At that point in time, they were down at the half. Massie's not unfamiliar with being down at half. We came out and we played the football we knew how to play. Obviously, it shows."
The 2013 Falcons found themselves in a 21-14 halftime deficit to Cardinal Mooney at a snowy Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon. Clinton-Massie rallied to tie the game in the third quarter, before scoring the winning touchdown on a 1-yard Bayle Wolf run with 1:10 left for a 28-21 victory.
That was the second of back-to-back title for the Falcons. They won their third on Friday.
Who needs experience? Not Chardon
A defending state champion should feel right at home when it finds itself in a second consecutive tightly-contested title game. Unless, that is, most of its previous year's title team has graduated.
That's the situation Chardon found itself in while facing Hamilton Badin in Friday's Division III state championship game. The Hilltoppers won 21-14 thanks to Sean Carr's 2-yard run with 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
A year ago, Chardon beat Columbus St. Francis DeSales in double overtime in Massillon for the state title. However, only a handful remain from that Hilltopper team.
"I mean, there's only a couple of us who played in that game," Carr said. "Four players who played in this game played in that one. It's impressive with all the first years to be in this tough of a situation. The four of us led, and I'm happy with how it worked out."
Reach Chris at chris.easterling@indeonline.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE
This article originally appeared on The Repository: St. Edward's Gio Kennedy back to his Stark County roots
