They haven't lost since.
Naples has gone 73 games without a defeat with 72 wins and one tie. The Golden Eagles won 61 straight before a tie in their final game of the 2023 season, then kept rolling. They are 4-0 to start 2026.
The streak has survived graduating classes, coaching changes and one fairly significant obstacle to becoming headline news – many in the Naples community didn't know it existed.
"To be completely honest, until you emailed me, I had no idea such a streak existed," Naples varsity head coach Richard Martin told MaxPreps. "I knew we were successful on the JV level but I had no idea and I don't think anyone else did either."
That says something about JV football. Scores don't always make the paper or even a website. Records are rarely kept for long and the best players can disappear from the roster overnight when varsity needs them. A decade-long run is hard enough to produce. It can be just as hard to document.
Naples has found a way to keep winning while moving players up. Martin said the program promotes an athlete when he is physically and mentally ready for varsity, regardless of his grade. But a capable sophomore may stay on JV when the varsity roster is deep, giving him a chance to play regularly and develop.
Then there's what happens between games.
"We pride ourselves on our weightroom and the work that gets put in year-round," said Martin, who also points to the JV's work on the scout team, where they face the varsity's speed and physicality. "Most of our JV players would say practice is harder than the actual games they play."
Three head coaches have kept that approach going. Mark Swanson led the JV program from 2005 to 2017 and was in charge when the streak began. Ron Byington took over in 2017 and went through 2021 without losing a game. Jeff Georges, who also coaches the varsity wide receivers, leads the team now.
Martin said all three treated JV as a vital part of the program, demanding the same standard from players and assistants year after year.
The tie makes Naples' streak an unbeaten run, not a 73-game winning streak. The longest known JV winning streak is 66 games set by
Hickory (N.C.) from 2002 to 2009.
The nation's longest active winning streak belonged to
Orland (Calif.) at 41 games up until two weeks ago when the Trojans suffered a 7-6 loss to
Red Bluff. The Trojans had averaged 43 points per game during the run — better than a point a minute in a 40-minute JV game — while allowing five.
Weddington (Matthews, N.C.) now owns the longest win streak at 31 in a row after beating
Marvin Ridge (Waxhaw) 21-14 last week. The Warriors are 7-0 on the season.
After a week off, Naples heads back to the field Thursday and takes on Gulf Coast, the team it defeated over a decade ago to start the streak.
