Technically, it took two days to end a 70-year losing streak in Indiana. As one might expect, that felt like only a small delay when the final score came through, sending the fans and students of Silver Creek (Ind.) High celebrating the first victory for the school since the program was re-established in 2010 … and first of any kind since 1942.
Silver Creek football players celebrate the program’s first victory in 70 years — Greg Mengelt/News & Tribune …
As reported by the News & Tribune, Silver Creek rolled past Eastern Pekin (Jnd.) High, 44-18. The contest began on Friday night, but finished on Saturday after the game was suspended with 7:43 remaining due to lightning coursing through the area.
At the time, Silver Creek was nursing a 30-12 lead when the game was suspended. That left little drama about whether Silver Creek’s epic drought would come to an end.
“It means everything,” Silver Creek quarterback Brooks Howell told the News & Tribune. “Losing is tough.
“We knew we had to come out and stay at it. We did want to get too excited after being out.”
To be fair, the losing streak was only at 14 games in its modern context, with the 2012 incarnation of the Dragons entering Friday’s game at 0-3, following a collective 0-11 run in varsity games in 2011 and 2012.
Yet the drought between wins was so much longer because the school shuttered its football program for decades. The team was disbanded in 1942 because of World War II, finally restarting operations in 2010.
All of that time without a football program, let alone a victory, was pushed far into the background on Saturday, when Howell finally took a knee to seal a 26-point victory which was monumental in every sense of the word.
“We are no longer 0-fer,” Silver Creek coach Mike Donahue told the Louisville Courier-Journal shortly after being doused with ice water to celebrate the historic victory. “The monkey is off our backs.”
Source: Yahoo Sports
