Marion Local’s Drew Lause fights through a pair of Franklin tacklers to cross the goal line and score this first quarter touchdown in Friday’s 49-0 win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Marion Local scored its 50th consecutive win in the same fashion as many of the previous 49. They scored 49 points on each of their seven first half possessions…and let the clock do the rest in the second half.
Franklin, OH – As milestone wins go this one lacked drama. And the only thing memorable about it was the number 50…not 49.
For you see, the Marion Local Flyers scored 49 points on seven first half possessions Friday night, which was impressive, of course. And their 49-0 win over stunned Franklin represented 94 points in their first two wins of the season. But that alone was not an impressive milestone. The fact that Friday’s 49-0 win represented 50 consecutive wins, and the longest high school winning streak in the America…that was impressive.
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Add this, as well, to the list of people who question ‘how impressive’ for the fact of 50 consecutive wins against Division V, VI and VII opponents. Marion played up four divisions Friday night (Franklin is a Division III school) and never missed a beat. They took the opening kickoff, marched down the field and scored, needing 1 minute and 19 seconds to do it. Just like they might have done against New Bremen or Parkway. For the sake of impressive, one could make the case for the Flyers having won 50 straight by taking on all comers.
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Division III Chaminade-Julienne tried it for back-to-back years, and then like Roberto Duran, said “no mas”.
Division III Wapakoneta then opened with Marion in 2021, ’22, and ’23 before finding a different Week 2 opponent.
And Franklin, who lost last year 63-7, was not vowing vengeance following Friday’s loss, when asked about a future date with Marion Local in Week 2.
“We have an open date for next year,” said Franklin coach Matt Muncy. “But that’s up to the athletic director.”
Simply put, Marion Local came out of the locker room and streaked to 49 points before Franklin could get the Gatorade iced down. And the fact of 103 degrees field temperature only seemed to warm their pace.
They make it look easy…wide receiver Vic Hoelscher snatches a one-handed reception in Friday’s win.
They scored that touchdown on the opening drive when Drew Lause crashed across the goal line at 10:41 of the first quarter.
Forcing Franklin to punt on their ensuing possession, Lause again scored at 3:14 of the quarter on another three-yard run…14-0.
At 11:39 of the second quarter, after another Franklin punt, junior Kamden Eifert scored the first of his three touchdowns on the night from five yards out…21-0.
Three minutes later, after yet another Franklin punt, Eifert was featured again, running it in from three yards at 8:25 to extend the lead to 28-0.
Cashing in on a Franklin fumble at 4:51 of the first half, at their own 41 yard line, quarterback Justin Knouff connected with receiver Vic Hoelscher for a 41-yard pitch-and-catch touchdown…35-0.
Franklin again gamely tried to move the ball inside three minutes of the first half, but forced again to punt, this time Griffin Bruns gathered in the kick and returned it 50 yards for yet another touchdown…42-0.
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And after another change of possession at 2:02, Marion again marched to the goal line where Kamden Eifert scored the last of his three touchdowns for the game on a 14-yard run…49-0.
Benefiting from a running clock in the second half, Marion played its reserves for the entire 24 minutes, they played effectively to maintain possession and kill clock, and when it was over there was no celebration over 50 [wins], or even mention of it. Rather, the focus was how quickly they could get on the bus and back to Maria Stein where they could take a shower. There were no showers in the Franklin locker rooms.
Shutout defense…Marion’s Adam Winner threatens the pass attempt of Franklin quarterback Braydon Isaacs.
Some numbers for the metric-minded….The Flyers behind quarterback Justin Knouff finished with 341 yards of offense, 264 of that coming in the first half.
All told, they rushed for 222 yards, led by Kamden Eifert’s 60 yards and three touchdowns.
Knouff, who threw just enough to stay warm in that heat, finished with 119 yards and a touchdown.
And Franklin coach Matt Muncy smiled at not only the question of a rematch, but what to do differently if given a mulligan.
“They’re a machine. They’re impressive to watch,” he shared. “I’m disappointed in myself and our staff that we couldn’t put our kids in a better position to succeed…but once they get rolling it’s really a tough train to stop.
“They’ve won 50 in a row for a reason. We hope to be at their level one day, but it takes a long time, as you can see. They built this thing for twenty-plus years.”
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Marion coach Tim Goodwin, predictably, chose not to talk about 50 wins, any kind of ‘gold’ standard, or the challenge of how far they might yet take it. They won with predictable Marion Local football – a lot of contributions, and opportunity for the next generation of Marion football to get valuable playing time on a Friday night.
“Overall, it was a tough week with the weather, the drive down here with the weather, and the locker room conditions with the weather,” said Goodwin. “But with the depth we have this year we were able to play pretty much everyone one way, and it was nice to be able to do that. It’s nice when Parker Hess gets dinged up that we can get juniors like Derek Knapke and Kam Eifert into to the game, and they went out there and did alright. They played pretty well.
Junior Kamden Eifert had his best night as a high school football player…60 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
“This year we can throw a junior out there, like Kam, and he scores three touchdowns. These guys are pretty good football players.”
But 50 wins IS a milestone, to be envied by every football program in eighty eight counties, because it means titles along the way, along with that certain intimidation factor that’s worth at least two scores before a team even takes the field. Only a few in the history of Ohio football have had it. And if 5o years of marriage is deemed ‘golden’, 5o wins is no less a standard for longevity and success in football.
“Yeah, but obviously you’re not going to get me to say anything about it now,” said Goodwin, when questioned. “50 is definitely different than 40, but that’s for other people to talk about.”
Or write about, which was plenty of reason to show up Friday as a witness to greatness…to anticipate how much longer to match the Ohio record of 57 wins by Delphos St. John (1996-2001 – Max Preps).
And to Goodwin’s point, Kamden Eifert couldn’t have cared less about records or 50 straight wins. He was living in the here and now – three rushing touchdowns and his best night as a high school football player.
“It feels good after a long bus ride,” he smiled. “It felt good to come in here and show what Marion Local [football] is about. But you just move on, every time.”
He sounded strangely like Tim Goodwin, and unanimity is probably one reason why they’ve won 50 straight.
St. Henry awaits next week, along with the growing interest of just how good, and just how far Marion can extend their dominance. It’s a good thing for people to talk about.
Because Goodwin and Flyers…aren’t!
Marion Local’s Vic Hoelscher eyes the pylon on this touchdown attempt in the first half Friday, at Franklin.
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