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Sports

One-On-One with Ernie Ceccato, Coach of the 1991 QO State Championship Team

Long-time MCPS football coach reflects on his state championship team 20 years later.

As Quince Orchard High School gets ready to welcome back its 1991 4A State Championship team, Patch.com sat down with the head coach of that team, Ernie Ceccato, to get his thoughts and reflections of that season 20 years later.

North Potomac Patch: Coach, 1991 was a special season for the community. We asked many of the players when they knew they had a chance to do some big things and many of them said "before the season started." When did you realize the team was capable of big things?

Ernie Ceccato: Well, we knew it was a special group just based on what they did on the junior varsity. Those kids came together rather quickly. And that senior class, that was the first group we had that were together for four years. The other kids we had that preceded them was sort of a splinter group from Seneca Valley and Wootton and sort of pieced together. But that group was different. They were together from day one.

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Patch: Looking back on it 20 years later, what stands out to you the most about that season and that group of players?

Ceccato: The close games we were in [stands out the most]. I mean, we had several one-point games. The two playoff games were 13-12 [over Paint Branch] and 7-6 [over Oxon Hill]. 

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That semi-final game against Oxon Hill. We were up 7-6 and it was late in the fourth quarter and they completed a pass that got them to like the one-foot line and we made a tackle to keep them out of the endzone. We forced a fourth down and they were lining up to kick a short field goal. If they make it, they're up 9-7 and we may only get one more chance. But they missed it and we ended up winning, 7-6.

But, after that miss, one of the players came running off the field and came up to me and said, 'don't worry coach, if they had scored we would have come right back and scored.' Those kids were so confident. They had that swagger. Meanwhile, there was only a minute to go in the game. I thought to myself, 'Boy, I'm glad you guys feel that way.'

That team complemented each other so well and came together for a common goal. It was a great ride.

Patch: Anything stand out about making the trip to Byrd Stadium for the title game?

Ceccato: One thing that stands out that most people probably don't know. Our guys had never lost on our field. So, before we went to Byrd Stadium, we all took a handful of grass and put it in our shoes. We were playing on the 'Cougar Dome.' It was a lot of fun.

Patch: Not sure if you knew, but the huge team photo of the team still hangs in the hallway outside the gymnasium. What does it mean to you that this team is still a great source of pride for the school and the community?

Ceccato: Personally, I'm proud of the kids and the way they all came together. And I'm proud of the way the community came together to support us. I mean, there we were, where four years earlier, there was a cornfield where the high school would soon stand. Then, four years later, there was a state championship football team.

That little community of Quince Orchard became recognized. We became a real community and I think the football team was a big part of that and it was a big deal for the kids. It was a big deal for me too.

Patch: The game where they are honoring the team is against Seneca Valley. It is definitely one of the great rivalries in the county now and that 1991 game was no different. What do you remember about the rivalry?

Ceccato: They essentially divided Seneca in half when they opened QO. So, automatically, from right then, we had a rivalry. Because some of those kids who were juniors the year QO opened, came to the school when, the year before, they were in the Green and Gold. A year later they were in the Red and Black. So, it's always been a big rivalry. Whenever we played them it was a big deal. 

Patch: What are you looking forward to most about this reunion?

Ceccato: Just seeing all these guys again. To see what all these young men are up to -- do they have families, do they have kids? That kind of thing. I'm really looking forward to hearing what everyone has been up to and turned into. It was a real special group and it'll be great to see them. I think about that team often. We did some great things.

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Ernie Ceccato coached at Quince Orchard from 1988-1996 and finished with a 57-36 record. He was the inaugural head coach at Poolesville as well, where he coached for 16 seasons, from 1972-1987. He was an assistant at Perry High School for five seasons before that.

He was named Washington Post's Coach of the Year in 1991 after he won the state title. He stayed at QO as a teacher until 1999 when he and his wife, Annie, moved to Greensboro, Ga. His first year there, he went to volunteer at the local high school as a part-time assistant coach for what he thought was only going to be temporary. Twelve years later, he can still be found on the sidelines of Green County High School every Friday night.

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