The Fighting Indians Earn the Key to the City
- Vero Minute
- Mar 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 17
On Saturday, March 7, Mayor John Cotugno took the stage at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center with the easy authority of a man speaking for the whole City. In front of him sat the 2025 Fighting Indians football team, fresh off the greatest season in program history, as he presented them with the key to the city.
The crowd of players, families, coaches, and a community that lives for Friday night lights, had just watched the season highlight reel: a 14–1 team that claimed Class 7A District and Regional titles and made the program’s first state championship appearance since 1981. The energy in the room was running high when Cotugno stepped to the microphone, read a City Council certificate of appreciation, and formally bestowed the key.
The honor he delivered has roots in the medieval city, when walls, watchmen, and locked gates defined who was inside and who was kept out. A key then meant trust and access. Over time, it evolved into a civic gesture reserved for visiting dignitaries, hometown heroes, and, eventually, teams whose success stitches a community together. Cotugno told the room this team had done exactly that for Vero Beach, showing up when it needed them most. He closed simply: “God bless you and go Fighting Indians.”
The ending everyone still sees in their sleep was a 28–27 loss on a tipped Hail Mary lateral in a Miami rainstorm. Coach Lenny Jankowski met that heartbreak head-on. He told the room he carries the weight of that loss personally, the way any coach does who loves his players like family. Then he put it in perspective: a school-record 14 wins, a double-overtime semifinal survived on resolve, and a group of young men who kept a team GPA above 3.0 while doing it. Around town they’re treated like local royalty, but in the quieter hours they're setting a standard the program will be chasing for years, even as the seniors head on scholarship to Florida State, Illinois, University of Florida, and other programs across the country.
None of it happened on talent alone. It ran on the infrastructure that Angela Banzhaf and her booster club kept in motion for 18 weeks. Local restaurants, including 14 Bones, with its parade of post-practice barbecue, fed the players. Pastor Joe Moore hosted Friday morning prayer breakfasts. Volunteers covered tickets, parking, concessions, and travel. Banzhaf told the team that what stayed with her wasn’t just the scoreboard, but how respectful and well-mannered they were, everywhere, all season long. “We are honored to serve these kids,” she said.
If you weren't in the room, you won't want to miss the 2025 Season Highlight Reel here, which will give you a sense of the energy in the room and some of the best plays throughout the season.
