How many football championships has Vero Beach won? Depends who you ask
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Vero Beach football is on the precipice of state championship No. 2, No. 3 or, well, I suppose it depends who you ask.
The Fighting Indians (14-0) will face Lake Mary (11-3) in the Class 7A state championship game at Florida International University's Pitbull Stadium in Miami on Saturday, Dec. 13. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
It's the first appearance by Vero Beach football in a Florida High School Athletic Association state championship game since 1981, the program's only FHSAA football state title.
The program's state championship history, however, dates back decades before Florida's current state series was established in 1963.
In 1946, Vero Beach football finished 10-0 under head coach H.L. Wasson, outscoring opponents 242-24 en route to a Class B championship. Wasson finished as runner-up for The Miami Herald's state "Coach of the Year" award.
The Fighting Indians finished with an undefeated record once again in 1951 to win the Suncoast Conference championship. The Herald ranked Vero Beach at No. 9 overall in its final state poll, the first time the Fighting Indians appeared in the newspaper's end-of-season ranking.
Of course, football programs have rarely let a poll ranking get in the way of a good claim to a historical championship.
The venerable Alabama Crimson Tide make far more absurd championship claims, such as their 1941 title despite a 9-2 record and No. 20 ranking in the final Associated Press poll.
In fairness, my own alma mater, Auburn University, got into this business of late, claiming seven additional national championships in 2025 to bring the program's all-time total from two to nine.
So don't feel too proud to claim those post-World War II championships, Vero Beach. If Alabama and Auburn have done it, you most certainly can, too.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach football state championship history, by the numbers
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