Only three teams in Iowa high school football history have won 50 or more consecutive games. Two of those teams meet in a Class 1A semifinal at the UNI-Dome on Friday morning.
On a warm August night in Eldora more than three years ago, Grundy Center trailed South Hardin midway through the third quarter.
The Spartans scored the next 27 points, loaded up for the bus ride back east on Highway 175 as winners over a neighboring rival and, unbeknownst to the victors, starting what has become one of the greatest Iowa high school football winning streaks of all-time.
Forty-nine victories and three state championships have followed since that August night in Eldora. And for the seventh consecutive season, the muggy August nights, the crisp September kickoffs, the chilly October huddles have given way to Grundy Center football in the climate-controlled UNI-Dome.
The Spartans punched their ticket to the Class 1A semifinals with a 21-0 shutout of Dyersville Beckman at Spartan Stadium on Friday, Nov. 7.
“We found something that worked,” Grundy Center head coach Travis Zajac said of 50 wins in a row. “It’s a pretty magical combination of super talented kids that are smart, work hard, make good choices, and you just let your [assistant] coaches coach and get out of the way. I’ve said to the other guys that when we look back on this time, it’ll be magical. … I’m just incredibly proud to be a part of it all.”
Grundy Center quarterback Judd Jirovsky carried the ball 19 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns and completed 6-of-12 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown score to Pete Lebo in the second half that helped seal the Spartan victory.
Defensively, Ryder Slifer made 6 1/2 total tackles, including 4 1/2 for a loss and three quarterback sacks. Aiden Betts had a fumble recovery on a loose ball forced by Slifer and Eli Wegmann pulled down an interception and had a key pass deflection on a fourth-down pass by the Blazers.
“It’s nothing that we don’t do every week,” Grundy Center head coach Travis Zajac said of the defensive effort. “It gets magnified in the quarterfinals, but it comes down to [Beckman] is one of the eight best teams left in Class 1A, they’re averaging 40 points a game, they’re rolling through teams, and the challenge this week is can our guys play at the physical level it takes to win games like this. They were able to align to their sets, get off blocks and tackle, … it was a phenomenal defensive effort.”
Waiting on the other side of the turf in Cedar Falls for the 10 a.m. kickoff this Friday will be Iowa City Regina. The winner will take on either West Lyon or South Hardin in the 1A championship game on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m.
The Regals are back at the UNI-Dome for the first time since 2020, when they slashed the Spartans, 52-28, for the Regals’ first time winning the title in Iowa’s smallest 11-man class.
The big-city Catholic school is one of the state’s most decorated on the gridiron. Regina has played in 12 championship games and won eight of them, the fourth-best trophy total of all schools in Iowa.
Grundy Center’s active 50-game winning streak is only the third time the feat has been accomplished in Iowa history. Regina stakes claim to one of those three, the Regals’ 56-game romp between 2010 and 2013 accounted for four of Regina’s six consecutive state titles in the early 2010s and ties Regina with Waterloo East for the longest unbeaten streaks – East went 56-0-1 between 1965 and 1971.
This year’s Regals team is 11-0, led by senior quarterback Kyle Tracy amassing 1,992 yards with 31 touchdowns to three interceptions this season as well as 10 rushing touchdowns on 68 carries; Savion Miller averages 8.8 yards per carry with 15 touchdowns and Tate Wallace has pulled in 35 catches for 500 yards and nine touchdowns, as well as 15 tackles for loss on the defensive side of the ball.
Regina wiped out Pleasantville, 49-7, to reach the semifinals as the No. 3 ranked team in 1A.
The Spartans will be ready to head to the Dome on Friday morning, Zajac said.
“Our success is a blessing,” he added. “We’re going to get to do some special things, and I hope our kids, our school, our community never gets tired of it. We’ll look back 5-10 years from now and know how special this is, because we’re doing some rare things here. But we have two more to go, and we’re focused on the next one.”
JAKE RYDER SPORTS 