Clinton-Massie’s league football supremacy – 25 straight SBAAC and 61 straight league victories – dates back to the 2002 football season.
Consider, the Falcons lost their last five SBAAC games in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, Massie won 23 straight SBAAC games. When Clinton-Massie joined the South Central Ohio League, they went 74-2. Including this season, since a 2007 loss to Washington Senior, Dan McSurley has led CMHS to 61 straight league victories.
Goshen head coach Ryan George said the reason for the Massie success is simple.
“They are well-coached and very good in all phases of the game,” he said. “They have an excellent program (and) are good every year.”
Goshen will get an opportunity Friday night to end Massie’s SBAAC win streak and take over as the league’s top dog in the American Division. Clinton-Massie (7-0, 2-0 American) travels to Goshen to face the Warriors (7-0, 2-0 American) with kickoff 7 p.m. Friday at Jim Brown Stadium.
“This will be an exciting game and we are looking forward to the challenge,” George said.
Goshen is No. 3 in the computer ratings in Div. III Region 12. Clinton-Massie is No. 3 in Div. IV Region 16. The top eight teams in each region advance to the playoffs.
For the Warriors, this is the second in a season-ending four-game stretch of solid opponents. Goshen passed the first test last week by defeating Wilmington 52-17. After Massie it’s Batavia in Week 9 and New Richmond in Week 10.
The Falcons are in a similar position. After rolling over its last five opponents, McSurley and Co. get Goshen (7-0), New Richmond (6-1) and county rival Wilmington (4-3) to close out the regular season.
“It should be a lot of fun preparing for these last three games,” McSurley said. “The team is highly motivated and hungry.”
One interesting side note to this week’s game is Greg Miller is an offensive coach for the Warriors. Miller is a former offensive lineman for the Falcons.
Much like Massie, Goshen likes to run the football, primarily with Jimmy Strunk, who went for 238 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Hurricane last week.
For the year, Strunk leads the SBAAC with 930 yards on the ground while CM’s Christian Poynter is second with 829 yards. Poynter has 20 rushing TDs and Strunk has 15.
George said his Warriors have to play their best game of the season to win. McSurley is concerned with his team being tested by the unbeaten Warriors.
“Our varsity team hasn’t played a full four quarters since week three so it’s a little concerning,” he said.
