Believe it or not, Goshen handed Clinton-Massie its only SBAAC loss back in October 2017.
The Warriors defeated the Falcons 33-31 five season ago.
Clinton-Massie has outscored Goshen 113-16 since then.
The loss isn’t something CM head coach Dan McSurley uses for motivation.
“This team doesn’t really remember 2017,” CM coach Dan McSurley said. “Our seniors were eighth graders.”
The veteran coach relies more on his team wanting to uphold a tradition.
“Winning 15 straight league championships would be a nice motivating tool for this group of seniors,” McSurley said.
Massie begins its quest for another SBAAC American Division crown 7 p.m. Friday night from Goshen’s Jim Brown Stadium.
“Goshen is really struggling right now and isn’t even able to compete in a junior varsity game Saturday, which is really disappointing for our younger teams,” McSurley said.
Goshen has been outscored 157 to 22 this season, including last week’s 28-0 loss to Blanchester.
The Falcons are coming off a 42-10 pasting of Division II Harrison, an outcome that surprised McSurley a bit.
“Really surprised we were able to get a running clock just shortly into the second half,” he said. “We only ran three different plays and attempted two passes.”
McSurley said his squad is mostly healthy, but lamented the loss of starting right guard Joey Kocher, who is out for the season with an injury.
“It really hurt losing him (Kocher) but Isaiah (McCoy) has stepped up nicely as his replacement,” said McSurley.
