Aaron Kinser, owner of Awnings by Kinser, and other business owners have purchased about 500 cow bells that will be passed out for free before the game.
“We know St. X will bring a crowd,” said Kinser, a 1996 MHS graduate who coached middle school football. “We want to cancel out that crowd. It will be loud.”
Kinser said the 500 bells cost the businesses about $2 each and will include their and Middie logos.
“We are doing a small gesture with a loud outcome,” he said.
Other businesses that purchased the bells are So Easy Signs and Miller Insurance Agency.
Joe Allen and Ty Goforth, co-owners of So Easy Signs, graduated from MHS in 1997 and 1996, respectively.
Allen said the Middies advancing to their first state semifinal in school history is “a wonderful accomplishment and something the community needed to galvanize things.”
When asked about Middletown facing St. X, a school with four state titles the last 20 years, Allen said: “Why not us and why not now?”
Marty Miller and his brothers, Shane, Nick and Scott, are continuing a family tradition started in 1939 when the business opened.
“We have always supported Middletown sports,” said Marty, a 2000 MHS graduate. “It’s in our DNA. It’s who we are.”
Kinser said Middletown’s offense traditionally has benefited from great athletes, but this year, the defensive is shining.
He called the defense the “best I’ve ever seen.”
HOW TO GO
WHAT: Division I state semifinal. St. Xavier (10-2) vs. Middletown (10-2)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Welcome Stadium, Dayton
TICKETS: https://www.ohsaa.org/tickets
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