JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Raines Vikings returned home to a hero\u2019s welcome as students, staff, and community leaders packed the high school auditorium for a pep rally celebrating the team\u2019s fourth state championship.<\/p>\n
Music, cheers, and Viking pride filled Raines High School as the entire school came together to honor a season many called historic. Chants of \u201cDuval\u201d echoed through the auditorium as the band played and fans celebrated the team\u2019s accomplishment.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n The Vikings finished off what they called their \u201cRevenge Tour\u201d with a dramatic 23\u201322 win over Miami Northwestern to claim the Class 3A state championship. The victory marked the program\u2019s fourth title and its first since 2018, avenging last season\u2019s playoff loss.<\/p>\n Raines High School Principal Vincent Hall said the championship reflects the culture and determination of the program.<\/p>\n \u201c This is really awesome. We played Miami for a couple of years and were always the underdogs, but this time we went down there, and the team was determined to beat them, and we did just that.\u201d<\/p>\n Community leaders also praised the team\u2019s historic run and what it means for the school and the city.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this win is something that this team deserves. It\u2019s history and is what we needed,\u201d said City Councilwoman Ju\u2019Coby Pittman.<\/p>\n For the players, the victory carried personal meaning.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just happy we beat them because they were talking talking too much, so we had to get on that belt, the body,\u201d said athlete Troy Butler.<\/p>\n Head coach Donovan Masline credited his team\u2019s composure and focus throughout the championship run.<\/p>\n \u201cThey never faltered, they never get upset, and they didn\u2019t panic. We need the time. Our kids was ready and locked in to go.\u201d<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n The celebration continued with special honors and surprises. Mayor Donna Deegan presented the team with a key to the city and a proclamation officially declaring December 18 as Raines Vikings Championship Day in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n \u201c It is my honor to present the Raines with a key to the city of Jacksonville,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n Players emphasized the unity behind their success.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took all of us to come together to win as a family,\u201d said athlete Geterius Brown.<\/p>\n The Jaguars organization also surprised Coach Masline with Super Bowl tickets in recognition of the championship season. Councilwoman Pittman capped off the celebration with a personal donation to the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to give you all $2,000.\u201d<\/p>\n The celebration will continue this weekend with a victory parade honoring the Raines Vikings, scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. at Lonnie Miller Park, and will end at Raines High School.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Raines Vikings returned home to a hero\u2019s welcome as students, staff, and community leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[982,10634,1376,48127,969,29611,116,118,117,48132,1630,634,48133,48130,1375,123,48122,9475,48126,48128,48129,48131,48124,48125,48123],"class_list":{"0":"post-88835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news","9":"tag-coach","10":"tag-donna_deegan","11":"tag-donovan_maslin","12":"tag-jack","13":"tag-jack_nicholas_brooks","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","16":"tag-jacksonville-news","17":"tag-jacoby_pittman","18":"tag-jaguars","19":"tag-local","20":"tag-lonnie_miller_park","21":"tag-maslin","22":"tag-mayor","23":"tag-miami","24":"tag-miami_northwestern","25":"tag-nicholas_brooks","26":"tag-reign","27":"tag-reigns_vikings","28":"tag-reigns_vikings_championship_day","29":"tag-super_bowl","30":"tag-the_rings_high_school","31":"tag-viking","32":"tag-vikings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}