'It has been a ride': What Trinity Catholic overcame to return to the state title game
Trinity Catholic football's revenge tour started nearly a year ago. After losing the 2022 1S state championship, the team looked inward to solve the problem. Brantley asked his team a simple question: why didn’t we win?
Answers varied, but the only solution was to implement each suggestion until they found the results they were looking for. After a season of trials and growth, the Celtics are ready to right their wrongs in the 2023 1S state championship.
“It has been a ride, a rollercoaster, but at the end of the day, the thing I'm proud of is how our kids and coaches dealt with being a 3-7 football team and got to the playoffs,” Trinity Catholic head coach, John Brantley said. "But understand, there was a plan to get there during the year."
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The Celtics' slow start isn’t what most people think it was. There wasn’t a championship hangover. The Celtics needed to find their identity, and with a team full of young, talented players, it took almost two months into the season.
The Celtics aren't your typical below .500 team. They have a championship in their DNA; if not for a handful of plays, several of those losses become wins. Every in-state team Trinity Catholic lost to made playoff runs, including undefeated state title finalist, Clearwater Central Catholic.
A Covid outbreak in the Celtics' preseason classic pushed the start of the season back a week. Fourteen players and three coaches had to isolate for ten days, and it cycled through their camp. Brantley was out a week and subsequently, his wife was out the following week.
Things turned around for the better when the team took the 13-hour bus ride to Cincinnati. That three-day trip brought them together. Fighting back from a 21-point deficit showed they could overcome obstacles when they played for each other.
Coaches mark it as the turning point of the season. Team captains Dominick Johnson, Gerrick Gordon, and Jeremiah Rhem held a player's only meeting to get to the core of their issues. It brought a new mindset that couldn’t come from the coaches. It had to come from the players.
The road to the state final wasn’t a smooth one for the 6-7 Celtics. At one point, the team faced a five-game slide that left fans and high school football analysts questioning if this team would even make the playoffs.
What most outsiders don’t know is all this team has battled through to have a chance at redemption. A lot can happen in three months, and each struggle was a major stepping stone.
Building a deep bond
The first difficulty began years before the season started, but it affected the team throughout the year. The health of Brantley’s grandson Avery made the 11-year head coach change his approach to the game.
While he may not have wanted to burden his team with news of Avery’s condition, there was no way around hearing updates. Changes in play calling and overall roles were all adjustments for the team.
"The Avery situation has been an internal family but has been embraced by the community," Brantley said. "I tried to keep it away from the kids but deep down they know about it."
While it’s never easy to find a bright spot when things are bleak, the Celtics have learned how deep their bond truly goes. Teams say they’re a family, but when the team needs a family the most, they can look to the left and right at practice and find a brother.
Lineman Gerrick Gordon learned that when his father passed away a week before the playoffs. Gordon’s father was the first to put the ball in his hands at a young age. He was his first coach. When Gordon Jr. was born, Gordon Sr. let out a yell of pride that rang through the hospital to announce his son’s arrival. Now, as a 6’3.5 270 pounds three-star high school junior, he’s become a power five recruit.
Gordon got the news his father’s condition worsened minutes before he stepped on the practice field. He was so devastated he couldn’t drive to Gainesville to see his father. A family friend took him to say his final goodbyes.
“I’m a junior, and I’m glad to have that name,” Gordon said. “I want to honor it anyway I can.”
When he’s not with his family or watching drag racing, one of his father’s favorite sports, his teammates are there for him. When Gordon left practice, staff knew he’d need the Celtics more than ever.
During the funeral procession, staff members and teammates poured into the building. They couldn't let their brother go through that experience alone.
The Celtics' slow start isn’t what most people think it was. There wasn’t a championship hangover. The Celtics needed to find their identity, and with a team full of young, talented players, it took almost two months into the season.
Dealing with internal battles
Trinity Catholic heard the rumbles of a disappointing season but had bigger internal battles to deal with. It’s made them resilient. It’s put them in a place they’ve manifested all year.
Whether it was surrounding one another with love through challenging times or finding themselves on the fields, it’s seeped into the culture of Trinity Catholic. The defense grew when it realized where its help came from, but that principle goes beyond one side of the ball. It’s not just how they play. It’s how they live, and that’s why the Celtics are one game away from becoming champions.
"When you have the self-policing from your own players, that's when you know you have a championship roster," Defensive Coordinator Steve Young.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Trinity Catholic is state title bound after a season of obstacles
