CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It was an exciting day for Harding University High School as the community celebrated their football team's state championship.
It was the school's first championship in 64 years.
"If you really understood the story about what went down here, you would be like 'wow,'" said player Marquis Nelson.
Two years ago the Rams only won one game. Tuesday, the team celebrated on campus as state
champs.
Coach Samuel Greiner said he was proud of the heart the team showed, especially when it came to overcoming adversity.
"That's the thing I'll remember," Greiner said. "We're family."
Greiner took a leap of faith on a 5-foot-8 120-pound sophomore quarterback with a then-grade point average of 2.0. The coach took the teen, Braheam Murphy, into his home with his wife's blessings.
"He became a son of ours," Greiner said.
"All the work we put in paid off," Murphy said. "It was all God's plan."
Murphy will attend Army in West Point, N.Y., and play football for the Black Knights.
Nationally-ranked running back Quavaris Crouch said the most important thing about the season was "playing our hearts out for each other."
"These kids deserve this moment," Greiner said of the celebration. "Everything they've accomplished, everything they have had to overcome, to come into this situation right now... It's amazing."
On top of that, Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis reportedly pledged to pay for the team's championship rings.
It's a high school football story for the ages.
"The ring will turn to dust one day, but this relationship will never end," Greiner said of the journey and his relationship with the team.