Shelby extended its regular season winning streak to 16 games last week, thumping longtime Northern Ohio League rival Bellevue 49-6.
Meanwhile, Ashland pushed its regular season winning streak to 13 with a tougher-than-anticipated 35-21 win over winless. Clyde. That game was tied 21-21 at the half.
Those streaks got me thinking.
What are some of north central Ohio’s other noteworthy regular season winning streaks? It took some digging, but I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on it.
As impressive as it is, Shelby’s current streak isn’t the longest in recent history.
I had the good fortune of covering the Whippets during the Erik Will era, when Shelby won 18 straight regular-season games from Week 6 of the 2016 season until Week 3 of the 2018 campaign. The Whippets were undefeated during the 2017 regular season and reached the Division IV state semifinals with All-Ohioan Brennan Armstrong at the controls.
Shelby won 25 straight games from 1966 to 1969. In fact, the Whippets had a 35-game unbeaten streak during that span, which included two ties.
The pre-playoff era was a golden era for several area schools. Clear Fork had a 24-game unbeaten streak from 1964 to 1966 that included one tie. More recently, the Colts put together back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 2017 and 2018.
Ontario’s longest regular season winning streak came during Roger Copeland’s successful tenure as head coach. The Warriors won 22 straight from 1963 to 1965.
Crestview won 21 straight regular season games within the last few years. The Cougars won their final regular season game of the pandemic-altered 2020 season, then put together consecutive unbeaten campaigns in 2021 and 2022.
Dana Woodring had Madison rolling in the 1990s. The Rams won 26 straight games from 1990 to 1993, but that streak included a forfeit win over Mansfield Senior in Week 9 of the 1991 season. The Tygers won the game on the field 21-17, but had to forfeit all eight of their victories that year for using an ineligible player.
Speaking of the Tygers, Mansfield Senior owns the area’s longest unbeaten streak. Mansfield Senior won its final game of the 1928 season and didn’t lose again until Week 7 of the 1933 campaign. The 38-game unbeaten stretch included six ties.
Ashland still has some work to do to match the best stretch in program history. The Arrows won 21 straight from 1950 to 1952, a span that included perfect 9-0 seasons in 1951 and 1952.
Danville won 27 straight games from 1993 to 1995, with former Clear Fork coach Dave Carroll piloting the program to 17 straight regular-season victories in 1993 and 1994. Steve Carr succeeded Carroll and led the Blue Devils to an undefeated regular season in 1995.
Marion Local owns the state’s longest active winning streak. The Flyers have won 51 straight regular season games dating to the 2019 season. Marion Local has won 67 straight games, including the playoffs.
Ohio’s longest regular season winning streak belongs to Cincinnati Wyoming. The Cowboys won 75 straight from 2015 to 2023.
MOAC Mayhem
The opening week of Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play features a pair of high-profile showdowns involving area teams.
Undefeated Shelby hosts undefeated Galion, while Clear Fork (2-1) hosts Ontario (2-1).
The Whippets outscored their three non-conference opponents by a combined score of 142-33. Not to be outdone, the Tigers roughed up their three non-conference opponents by a combined score of 117-20 and are coming off a 41-0 shutout of Division III Norwalk.
Ontario has won two straight after its season-opening loss to Lexington. The Warriors have allowed 12 combined points the last two weeks.
Clear Fork opened the season with an impressive 17-14 walk-off win over reigning Division IV state runner-up Sandusky Perkins and pounded Zanesville in Week 2. The Colts suffered their first loss last week, dropping 31-28 heart-breaker to backyard rival Lexington.
KMAC Flex
The Knox Morrow Athletic Conference did nothing to tarnish its reputation during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
The eight KMAC teams were a combined 16-8 during the first three weeks, tops among area conferences. Fredericktown and Mount Gilead were undefeated in non-conference play, while Danville, Centerburg, Loudonville, Northmor and Cardington were 2-1.
Cat Fight
Crestview brings a 1-2 record into its Firelands Conference opener against New London, but the Cougars are feeling good about themselves after last week’s come-from-behind 28-14 win over Keystone.
Crestview trailed 14-0 only to score 28 unanswered.
The Cougars dropped their first four games last fall, but managed to reach the playoffs for a sixth straight season by winning five of their final six games. Keystone won last year’s meeting 34-0.
With no clear-cut favorite in the Firelands — reigning co-champs Monroeville and St. Paul are each 1-2 — the Cougars should be in the hunt for a conference crown and a seventh straight playoff berth.
Crestview shifted to Region 23 of Division VI after spending the past several seasons in Region 22.