You wouldn't know if from the final, but this was another close call for Central in their quest to end the streak.  They held a 24-21 lead with first and 10 from the Trigg 20 late in the third, but lost five yards on four plays on the drive, and gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter to fall in their 52nd straight contest.  It's the third time in their streak that they failed to hold a lead entering the fourth quarter. The program once had 69 wins in a row where they entered the final quarter with a lead, spanning eight years.  Those days are long in the past.

Central is trying to drum up a game for next week.  If they fail to do so, the class of 2021 will be the second straight for Central to go winless.

Wow this is crazy! What class are both of these teams? 

8 hours ago, Jason Bucklen said:

Wow this is crazy! What class are both of these teams? 

Trigg County is 3A, Warren Central is 4A.

We as in Beechwood played Warren Central in a bowl game in 1994. They were a tough team. 

5 minutes ago, Jason Bucklen said:

We as in Beechwood played Warren Central in a bowl game in 1994. They were a tough team. 

They were really good for many, many years. Lost twice in state finals. Were always a threat for a deep playoff run. And then it just collapsed. And what’s crazy is they’ve remained successful in almost every other sport. @DragonFire can speak to issues more than anyone (and there are a few), but it’s just crazy to see how Warren Central football just effectively fell off a cliff. 

3 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

They were really good for many, many years. Lost twice in state finals. Were always a threat for a deep playoff run. And then it just collapsed. And what’s crazy is they’ve remained successful in almost every other sport. @DragonFire can speak to issues more than anyone (and there are a few), but it’s just crazy to see how Warren Central football just effectively fell off a cliff. 

When we played them in 94 they went to the state semis in 93. They were a good and tough team. They were up 14-0 on us then we came back to beat them 21-17. We had two goal line stands against them. 

16 minutes ago, Jason Bucklen said:

When we played them in 94 they went to the state semis in 93. They were a good and tough team. They were up 14-0 on us then we came back to beat them 21-17. We had two goal line stands against them. 

That 1994 team was the first to really feel the effect of Greenwood opening in 1990. They started 0-3, rebounded for a 6-4 regular season record and then started a streak of five straight years either missing the playoffs or losing in the first round. They would never again advance past the second round in AAA (of the old four class system). The program rebounded to become solid from 2000-2012, even proving to be a contender for a state title appearance on multiple occasions, but the effect of the Greenwood split was a harbinger of what was to come when South Warren opened. 
 

Warren Central football, and much of the school itself, was doomed by negligent/intentionally poor decisions by the school board, transfers (with both of those relating to district lines), changing demographics in Warren County and their district area, and some very, very poor decisions by the school’s administration. the external forces ensured that Central would no longer be particularly good. They did not have to be this bad. The decision to fire two head coaches in a row after single seasons pushed the program to where they are now - a program (as mentioned in my first post) that has entered the fourth quarter with a lead only three times in their previous 52 games, winning none of them. 
 

There are signs of promise at the lower levels. There was improvement as this season went along. They are very young, but also often are. The program will have to find a way to keep the kids from middle school, and keep the kids year to year in high school. When your starting QB from last year’s back half of the season as a sophomore ends up at a more successful program across town the next year, it makes it pretty difficult to build with a youth movement. I’ve mentioned it in posts previously but I hope and pray they have gotten seriously aggressive in scheduling for next season. There are teams in this state worse than them or at their level, even if it doesn’t feel like it. They need to be playing those teams. Then need WINS, by any means necessary, to show progress. Because all these kids and their parents see are a program that hasn’t won in five years. And losing by 50 to South Warren or Bowling Green isn’t going to help anyone on either sideline. 
 

Central will win a game again someday. Who knows, they may even be competitive in the playoffs again someday. But that’s years upon years away. Maybe a generation away. It remains a pretty dim outlook. 

Fowler is doing a great job. Hope he will stay to finish the job. Kids need the stability of having a coach for longer than a year or two!