MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Senior football team took its fans on a wild ride for the past five weeks, culminating in an appearance in the Division III state championship game over the weekend at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

The fans showed their appreciation Monday inside Pete Henry Gym.

A raucous student and community celebration kicked off with the band playing the fight song and concluded with three members of the state runner-up Tygers receiving their graduation caps for an impromptu sendoff while It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, the early-1990s anthem by Boyz II Men, thundered over the sound system.

Seniors Angelo Grose, Anthony Hawkins and Clay Caudill will graduate early — within the next two weeks — so they can begin their college football careers when the upcoming term begins in early-January. Grose is headed to Michigan State, while Hawkins will play for Bowling Green and Caudill will suit up for the University of Toledo.

“If I told you every day I see you how proud I was, I’d still be a day short,” school board vice president and Senior High graduate Gary Feagin said. “That’s how proud you have made Mansfield.”

Principal Marinise Harris, another proud Senior High product, agreed.

“Thank you from an alumna, for those of us who bleed Orange and Brown,” Harris said.

Before he introduced members of the team and his coaching staff, head coach Chioke Bradley offered his thanks to the community.

“I love my city. I love the fact that I’m a Mansfield Senior alum,” Bradley said. “Nobody ever will be able to take that away from me or any of these young men in front of me.”

A 1994 graduate who starred for the Tygers in football and track, Bradley said the 2019 Tygers belonged to the entire community.

“It’s amazing to watch how the game of football can do so many great things,” Bradley said. “These young men played it the right way and brought the whole city together.

“To watch everyone come together, regardless of what color they are, or what gender or what religion or what their political beliefs are, to watch everybody come together for one common goal was truly amazing.”

Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Stan Jefferson summed it up best. Jefferson coached the Tygers from 1993 to 2002 before accepting a position with the Ohio State football program. Bradley was a senior on Jefferson’s first team at Mansfield Senior in 1993.

“I know how proud we are of not only what you’ve done on the field, but what you’ve done off the field,” Jefferson said. “What you have done for this community, galvanizing the TY-Tyger community is really remarkable.

“We can’t tell you enough how proud we are. We love you.”