Title
To Honor and Celebrate the 2024 Bishop Watterson Eagles Football Team for being Crowned State Champions in Division III
Body
WHEREAS, Bishop Watterson High School, named in honor of Bishop John Ambrose Watterson, the second Bishop of Columbus, was founded in 1954 and was the first coeducational diocesan high school in Franklin County; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Watterson has a history of strong athletic teams, with numerous state championship titles. The high school encourages students to take pride in representing their school through sports; and
WHEREAS, not only did the team win the state championship, but they won the Columbus Catholic League title with a score of 44-7 over their local rival St. Francis DeSales High School and clocked the most wins in a season in school history, going undefeated for the first time since 1993; and
WHEREAS, for most of the championship season, the team outscored opponents by more than 30 points with only the state title game being a close contest where they had to rally from behind and win in the last few minutes of the game; and
WHEREAS, the team kicked off their playoff run with a dominant 44-7 victory over the Warren Warriors. They followed up with a 35-0 win against Jackson, then shut out Licking Valley 30-0 before securing the Region 11 championship with a decisive win over Steubenville at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium; and
WHEREAS, the Eagles defeated London in the State Semifinals 56-21, earning a chance to avenge a state title game defeat to Toledo Central Catholic in 2023; and
WHEREAS, the 2024 Bishop Watterson Eagles Football Team represented the City of Columbus with pride in the Division III State Championship game and defeated Toledo Central Catholic 19-14 to bring home their third state championship; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
that this Council honors and celebrates the 2024 Bishop Watterson Eagles Football Team for being crowned State Champions in Division III.