To reach the pinnacle of a state championship once in West Virginia high school football is awesome. To do it a few times is impressive.

To do it 13 times, as Wheeling Central Catholic did last week in its Class A championship win? There may not be enough words to describe that feat.

We can start with one: Wow.

The Maroon Knights had already cemented their football program in Mountain State lore with their previous 12 championships. Then they ran away from Clay-Battelle in Charleston to win No. 13.

And it was done with good old fashioned hard nosed football. The Maroon Knights gouged Clay-Battelle for 623 yards and 560 of those were gained on the ground. Of those 560 rushing yards, a jaw-dropping 415 of them came from running back Kade Koroneos, who also scored an amazing seven touchdowns.

Those 415 yards are a championship-game record, so even after reaching the mountaintop for the 13th time, the Maroon Knights are still breaking new ground.

What this shows is that the tradition built and maintained over the decades has remained strong. Head coach Mike Young — who has now coached his ninth state championship team — his staff and Wheeling Central’s players must be commended for this amazing accomplishment.

Traditions can be hard to keep up. The Maroon Knights have showed no signs of slowing down.