Streak Busters: Carl Albert [OK], Norfolk [NE] Catholic see their 39-game win streaks end

With nearly 14,000 11-man high school football teams competing across the country, there are always several dozen teams on lengthy double-digit win streaks.

And on any given weekend, several of those large streaks usually end. This weekend was no different as at least 18 teams on double-digit win streaks saw those long runs come to an end last weekend. That included two teams that entered the weekend tied for the 6^th longest win streak in the nation at 39 games.

Nebraska's Norfolk [NE] Catholic Knights and Oklahoma's Carl Albert (Midwest City, OK) Titans had each won three straight state championships during their streaks before seeing those lengthy runs come to an end.

39-game streaks end on consecutive nights

The chaos started on Thursday night when Carl Albert ran into the stubborn Sandites of Charles Page [Sand Springs, OK] who refused to budge on defense. The Titans could only manage a field goal in a 10-3 loss, ending their 39-game run that started on September 16, 2022, in a 45-2 win over the Elk City [OK] Elks.

The Titans had not lost since the previous week that year on September 9 when they were surprised by some Okies from Muskogee. That night, the Muskogee [OK] Roughers handed the Titans a 35-28 loss. Carl Albert then immediately embarked on an 11-game win streak to finish the season as Oklahoma's OSSAA Class 5A state champions. They added two more 5A state titles the past two seasons while finishing 14-0 during both campaigns.

Norfolk Catholic's long run, meanwhile, was ended by the Bishop Neumann [Wahoo, NE] Cavaliers in Friday night's season opener in a 21-14 setback. It was the same Cavaliers' team the Knights had beaten nine months ago for Nebraska's NSAA Class 2 state championship.

The Knights had not lost since the final game of the 2021 season when they were beaten by another group of Knights – the order from Bergan Catholic [Fremont, NE] that won the state championship joust against the Norfolk gallants in a 49-20 rout on November 23.

Norfolk's win streak started in the season opener the following year on August 26, 2022, when they blew out yet another group of Knights from Oakland [NE]-Craig. During that span, they finished 13-0 three consecutive seasons while adding a trio of Class C2 state championship trophies to their case.

Maury, Montgomery Catholic's 30-game runs come to an end

In Raleigh, North Carolina, the Maury Commodores of Norfolk, Virginia, saw their 30-game run come to a conclusion after reaching 30 games.* On an out-of-state trip last Friday to take on the Cardinal Gibbons [Raleigh, NC] Crusaders, Maury finally ran out of answers in a 24-20 loss. It was their first setback since a 33-19 loss to the Highland Springs [VA] Springers on December 10, 2022, in Virginia's VHSL Class 5 state championship game.

Maury then started its streak the following year in the season opener on September 1, 2023, with a 34-14 win at the Wise [Upper Marlboro, MD] Pumas. They won back-to-back Class 5 state championships the past two years with identical 15-0 records.

Down in Alabama later that evening, the Montgomery [AL] Catholic Knights were also upended for the first time in 30 games. In a trip to Odenville to take on the St. Clair County [AL] Fighting Saints, the Knights came up on the short end of a 42-28 score, ending a run that dated back to a 29-26 loss to the Andalusia [AL] Bulldogs on November 25, 2022, in Alabama's AHSAA Class 4A semifinals.

The Knights responded to that previous loss by winning the Class 4A title the following year with a 15-0 record before adding a 5A title last year at the conclusion of a 14-0 season. The streak started with a 21-0 win over the McGill-Toolen [Mobile, AL] Yellowjackets on August 25 in the 2023 season opener and lasted through the 2025 opener two weeks ago on August 22 in a 32-6 win over the Saint James [Montgomery, AL] Trojans.

^{* – MaxPreps lists one game twice in its 2024 standings for Maury. The actual total is 30 games, not 31, as stated in this link.}

National Week 3's list of double-digit win streaks that ended

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