It hasn’t always been easy, but tiny Smith Center (Kan.) continues to stretch its amazing football winning streak. Counting Friday’s 24-12 victory over Colby, the Redmen now stand 6-0, and the nation’s longest active winning streak has reached 73 games.
"We’re pretty young in spots and had some injuries," coach Roger Barta said. "We’re hanging by a thread."
He was referring to at least two squeakers: 20-14 against Norton and 14-12 against Phillipsburg.
"We’ve had some really good competition," Barta stressed. "Some were better than us, but we’ve been able to come out with a win."
Asked about being burdened by pressure from the long streak, Barta replied, "I don’t feel like they are. It doesn’t bother me one way or the other. We haven’t mentioned it (in team meetings). When we win, they announce it (at each game)."
Despite having only 122 students in grades 10-12, Smith Center will move from Class 2A to 3A next year, Barta revealed. He explained, "In western Kansas, everybody is losing population. We’ll be at the bottom (of 3A enrollment)."
Each opponent would love to be the one who snaps the Redmen’s state-record winning streak. Barta said "no coach or administration" has contacted him about being added to next year’s schedule. However, he added, "We had a couple letters from fans. They’re ready to play us anytime."
So, football continues to roll along at a fever pitch in Smith Center, population 1,800.
Joe Drape of the New York Times wrote a book about the program called "Our Boys: A season with the Smith Center (Kan.) Redmen." Although Barta wasn’t sure how many attended the August book signing, he did recall proudly, "They sold a thousand books."
Other standout performances
* Lincoln (San Diego) senior receiver Victor Dean (6-foot-6) had 329 yards, a San Diego Section record, on 14 receptions during a 41-34 loss to Mission Bay. The national record is 414 yards.
* In Washington, Issaquah senior quarterback Ryan Bergman (6-2, 170 pounds) completed 26-of-35 passes for 531 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in a 40-7 victory over Redmond. Junior receiver Evan Peterson snared 11 for 229 and three touchdowns.
* In a Texas shootout, Luke Woodley passed for 511 yards and four touchdowns as Highland Park outlasted Richardson Pearce, 51-44. Caleb Lewis of Pearce also had a big night with 309 passing yards and five touchdowns.
* Wright City junior Trent Davis (5-10, 165) ran 44 times for 458 yards – the No. 5 all-time total in Missouri history – during a 42-20 victory against Orchard Farm on a rain-soaked field.
* Heath (Ohio) standout Charles Gresham eclipsed a 15-year-old school record by running for 404 yards and six touchdowns during a 47-27 victory over Columbus Academy.
* Prairie Valley (Gowrie, Iowa) seniors Jon Elmore and Cole Jaeschke both surpassed 4,000 career yards in a 41-0 rout of Ogden. Elmore ran for 105 yards to push his total to 4,069, while Jaeschke passed for 280 yards, raising his total to 4,174.
* In another Iowa game, Manson-Northwest Webster returned four fumbles – two by Brandon McGinty – for touchdowns during a 57-7 victory over Audubon.
* Ohio’s reigning Mr. Football, Erick Howard, won’t soon forget Friday night’s 31-20 North Canton Hoover victory over Austintown Fitch. The 5-11, 205-pound senior ran for 222 yards to set a school and Stark County record with 5,248 career rushing yards and – the icing on the cake – was named Homecoming King.
* In another big Ohio matchup, Steubenville throttled storied Massillon, 13-3, before an overflow crowd of 11,000. The Big Red, who had not played Massillon since 1978, extended their regular-season winning streak to 67 games and their home streak to 59 in a row.
* Dominique Marsh, a 6-1, 170-pound junior quarterback, passed for 381 yards and seven touchdowns as Booker T. Washington (Norfolk, Va.) defeated Granby, 48-21.
* Joe Cipp (Bellport, Brookhaven, N.Y.) and Jude Kelly (St. Paul-Goodwin Tech, Bristol, Conn.) both recoded their 200th coaching victories over the weekend. Cipp was greatly aided by senior Steve Gambles’ three interceptions during the 24-19 win against Smithtown West.
* In southern California, Lakewood ended perennial power Long Beach Poly’s state-record 15-year, 80-game winning streak in the tough Moore League with a 21-14 victory before a crowd of 11,000. … One week earlier, Mishawaka (Ind.) had severed Penn’s 24-year, 153-game winning streak in the Northern Indiana Conference with a 26-10 victory before a capacity crowd of 8,000.
National hockey tourney
The first-ever national high school hockey tournament will be played from April 13-18 in Bensenville, Ill. The tournament is the brainchild of Illinois resident Bob Mathson, who has served in various capacities with USA Hockey for close to 20 years.
Mathson explained, "The youth level has national tournaments for under-18, under-16, under-14 and under-12 but nothing for high school. We finally were able to convince the USA Hockey board that another national tournament was appropriate."
All 50 states will be invited, with Pennsylvania getting a pair of berths. However, some states will not be able to compete due to rules. For example, Minnesota – perhaps the No. 1 hockey state – can not participate due to a limit on the number of games.
The teams will be divided into groups based on number of hockey players – ages 15 to 19 – in each state.
Mathson added, "This is the first step of high school sports being recognized on a national level. Hopefully, what comes out of it will be national tourneys in football, baseball, etc."
National swim champions
Swimming World magazine has named the Saratoga (Calif.) boys and Baylor (Chattanooga, Tenn.) girls as its 2009 national team champions.
Dagny Knutson (Minot, N.D.) was a runaway winner for National Female Swimmer of the Year. The Auburn University recruit set two national records as a junior.
The National Male Swimmer of the Year was Tom Shields of Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who set a national record in the 200-yard freestyle.
* Kasey Carlson of Las Lomas (Walnut Creek, Calif.), who holds the national record in the 100-yard breaststroke, has committed to the University of Southern California.
Two strike out 20
Lincoln North Star’s Paige Policky broke Nebraska’s 10-year-old Class A state tournament record with 20 strikeouts during a 7-0 victory over Columbus in the district softball tournament.
The very next day her record was tied by Lincoln Southwest’s Becca Changstrom during a 6-0 win against Kearney. It also marked Changstrom’s sixth perfect game this fall.
Garcia picks Ohio State
Three-time Washington state wrestling champion Derek Garcia of Sedro-Woolley has committed to Ohio State University. He is the No. 10 wrestler in the nation, according to InterMat Wrestling Magazine.
Garcia, who won a national title last summer in Fargo, N.D., has captured state championships at 125, 140 and 152 pounds and is projected to wrestle his senior year at 171.
Elsewhere, Mt. Anthony Union, which has four of the top 10 wrestlers in Vermont, is favored to notch its 22nd consecutive state title this winter.
