MARIA STEIN, Ohio — It’s a game that could go down in history for the Marion Local football team on Friday night.
After tying the OHSAA football longest win streak last week with a win Friday night against divisional rival, Coldwater, the Flyers could put their name in the record books.
Marion Local isn’t letting up on the gas.
“No one's going to be in better shape than we are," head coach Tim Goodwin said.
The team putting in its weekly sprints at the end of practice. As they keep their final regular season game in mind and what it entails.
“It feels a little bit more like a state championship game," Goodwin said. "But you know we got this streak going, but we're 9-0, Coldwater’s 9-0. They're our biggest rivals. You know we're going for the league title. So, really for us, you know, the league title and our biggest rival was really a bigger deal.”
A win, which would be the team’s 58th straight and longest in OHSAA football history, is the focus right now, not the streak.
“We're not worried about the win streak," senior quarterback Justin Knouff said. "That's kind of our mindset going in this game. The MAC title's a little bit more important to us, a little bit more prideful for us.”
A league title, which would be the team’s ninth straight, some say is more difficult than winning the state championship.
“There's a lot of truth to that," Goodwin said. "You know, there's been several times where we've had multiple state champions. So obviously you have people winning a state championship that didn't win a league title. We have more state titles than we do league championships.”
A win for either school would secure the MAC championship, but also a chance for the Flyers to do something that’s never been done before.
“We do bring things up like that," Goodwin said. "Like, look, we've never done this before.”
This senior class has never lost at the varsity level- but they say it’s about more than just them.
“It'd be pretty cool because just watching the guys before me do what they did and win their games and win the league title is really cool watching that," Knouff said. "And I'd like to do the same thing. Leave my mark for the younger guys.”
“It doesn't start with our senior class," senior wide receiver Victor Hoelsher said. "I mean, it started when we were freshmen. So, I mean, it feels good for all the other seniors that played, you know, from our freshman year all the way up to now.”
While coaches don’t typically reflect on big moments like this in the moment, Coach Goodwin agrees it would be another amazing accomplishment.
“I almost look at it as kind of like the cherry on top of of this year,” Goodwin said. “And our historical success, you know, kind of just one more thing that you can just, at some point, reflect on and be happy about.”
Marion Local and Coldwater battle it out for the MAC title in the final regular season game of the year- and viewers in Southwest Ohio can see the action right here on Spectrum News starting on Friday night at 7 p.m.