KIRTLAND, Ohio — Following Kirtland’s loss last December to Coldwater in the OHSAA Division VI state football championship, Jake LaVerde and his teammates returned to the weight room they know so well.

LaVerde admitted the tradition, which seems to follow every trip to a state-title game with a big turnout the following day for weight lifting, fell off a bit after Kirtland won its seventh state crown in 2023.

Lucci Cantini, the team’s center, thought maybe the Hornets took their latest title defense for granted.

“Last year, everyone was like, ‘Oh we deserve it,’ like, ‘We already got it,’” Cantini said Tuesday after practice. “Then everyone was like, ‘Oh, that’s not how it works,’ so everyone came back and worked harder.”

Kirtland has played for a state championship 13 times in the l

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