Blue Devils Bond over Team Dinner before Final Four Match Up

Zanesville takes a trip to the Final Four Friday for just the third time in history.

If that weren’t enough pressure, winning on Friday would take them to the State Championship for the first time ever. So, what does a Blue Devil do to prepare for a game with that much on the line?

They eat a steak dinner with players who became friends, who became family and take the time to bond with those fellow teammates one final time before a night that none of them will forget.

“You know all year long you’re a team and you’re a family and one of the things we do and we eat together and that’s one of the things we look forward to, some boding time,” said Head Coach Chad Grandstaff. “Some time to sit down together and reflect on different things and obviously this week being Thanksgiving, that’s another opportunity for us to sit down and eat with each other and tell stories from the past season. ”

While there’s pressure to perform at their best there’s an outpouring of support from the local community. Many local businesses came together to feed the team Tuesday night and Honeybaked Ham provided the cafe. Owner Chad Lynn said he’s proud to feed a team that he watches on the grid-iron every Friday night.

“[I] love all the boys,” said Lynn. “I go to all the games and [I’m] pretty good friends with Derek Grandstaff, the Quaterback, and of course Chad Grandstaff is a good friend and we really enjoy the whole giving back to the football team and i’m sure they enjoy the good meal as well.”

The Blue Devils head to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massilon to take on Archbishop Hoban. Kick off is at 7:30. There is a send off on Blue Ave. this Friday at 3 p.m. You can also catch the entire game on AM 1240. Pre-game is at 7:15.