The High School Football Huddle on Facebook & Twitter

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

As I start my third year at the helm of The High School Football Huddle, I'm expanding the ways you can keep-up with news from around America.

The Huddle is now on Facebook and Twitter. Click on the links to keep yourself informed.

The High School Football Huddle on Facebook

Opening Day in Alaska & Tennessee

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

High school football practice officially began in Alaska and Tennessee this morning and there certainly was a contrast in temperatures for two-a-days...Knoxville was in the mid 80's; Anchorage in the mid 60's.

It was the first day with new heat policy instituted by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association that limits the amount of exposure to high heat indexes. Coaches are required to take players off of the field if the heat index reaches 95 degrees. Click here to read more about the policy from the Tennessean.

All eyes will be on Alcoa that will be going after it's sixth straight state title this fall. Click here to read a story about a quarterback logjam from the Knoxville News.



Here's the 2008 Tennessee high school football champs:

5A- Oakland
4A- Hillsboro
3A- Knoxville Catholic
2A- Alcoa
1A- Troudsdale County
Division II A- Davidson Academy
Division II AA- MUS

Click here for preview capsules from the Nashville area.

Up north, Soldotna will be looking for its fourth straight Alaska Small Schools championship. The Stars can also set a new state record for consecutive victories with a win in the season opener. Soldotna has won 29 straight.

Service is the Big Schools defending champ.

Longest Current Active Losing Streak in High School Football

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

I guess when you post a story about the longest current active win streaks, it only stands to reason that someone would start wondering about the longest active losing streak. Mike posed the question yesterday, and now here's the answer.

The Carl Hayden Falcons in Phoenix, Arizona enters the season with a 64-game losing streak. The last Falcons win came in 2002.

My research found that according to a story on ESPN Rise last year, Carl Hayden became the 15th school with a losing streak of more than 60 games. Glascock County of Georgia had held the dubious record by losing 82 straight between 1990 and 1999, but the team was awarded a forfeit victory in 1997.

Right now, Davis High of Houston, Texas holds the record with 80 straight losses. Sturgis High in South Dakota dodged tying the record with a win in 2006 that snapped the Scoopers 79-game win streak. Click here for that story.

Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Series Announces Texas Games

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

The Dallas Cowboys new home will play host to a high school football quadruple-header on Monday, September 7th as part of the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Series.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, the showcase game will pit 2007 Texas 5A Division I champ Euless Trinity against Utah power Bingham. Bingham, which lost in the state's 5A championship game in 2008, is led by junior running back Harvey Langi, who was third in the state in rushing last year with 1,371 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns. The Texas/Utah showdown will kick things off at noon with the game being broadcast nationally by ESPN.

The other interstate match-up is between Klein Oak (TX) taking-on Notre Dame Prep from Sherman Oaks, California. Notre Dame is led by one of the top junior quarterbacks in the country. Ryan Kasdorf (6-2, 205) was named the state's Gatorade Player of the Year after passing for nearly 3,300 yards and 36 touchdowns.

“Intersport is proud to team with Burger King, Fox Sports Net, and Kirk Herbstreit to once again bring you the best high school football in the nation,” said Intersport, Inc. Event Manager Joseph Salituro. “We look forward to having the new Cowboys Stadium as our host. We are excited for the players, coaches, and fans to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. The four matchups that we have provided will be a great introduction of high school football to this wonderful facility.”

Here's the schedule for the day, plus the Ohio match-ups that were released earlier this year:

Texas Games at Cowboys Stadium
September 7, 2009

Noon - Euless Trinity (TX) vs. Bingham (UT)
2:30 P.M. - Klein Oak (TX) vs. Notre Dame Prep (CA)
5:00 P.M. - Colleyville Heritage (TX) vs. Irving MacArthur (TX)
7:30 P.M. - Mansfield Timberview (TX) vs. Mansfield Summit (TX)

Ohio Games at Ohio Stadium
August 29, 2009

Noon - Upper Arlington (OH) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL)
3:30 P.M. - Hilliard Davidson (OH) vs. Westville South (OH)

August 30, 2009

Noon - Olentangy Liberty (OH) vs. Dublin Coffman (OH)
3:30 P.M. - Orange Lutheran (CA) vs. Pickerington Central (OH)

High School Football's Active Win Streaks

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

With South Panola (MS) and Maryville (TN) losing on back-to-back days last December, Smith Center of Kansas owns the nation's longest active high school football win streak. South Panola's streak, which is the third longest all-time in high school football ended at 89, while Maryville ended at 74.

Next month, you'll be able to learn a lot more about the Smith Center Redmen when New York Times write Joe Drape's book Our Boys comes out on August 18th. Drape moved to his family to the small town of 1,931 to do the book. You can learn move about Drape's book at www.joedrape.com.

After plenty of research, here is the most accurate active win streak list I could come-up with...if I missed a team, please feel free to email me at jeff@blitzgroupllc.com.

1. Smith Center (KS) - 67 straight wins
2. Wayne Hills (NJ) - 52 straight wins
3. Plymouth (NH) - 44 straight wins
4. Timpview (UT) - 36 straight wins
5. Saguaro (AZ) - 33 straight wins
6. Lake Travis (TX) - 30 straight wins
7. Soldotna (AK) - 29 straight wins
8. Skyline (WA) - 28 straight wins
8. River Hill (MD) - 28 straight wins
10. Jupiter Christian (FL) 27 straight wins
10. Solon (IA) - 27 straight wins
12. Centennial (AZ) - 26 straight wins

Where Was the Spread Offense Born?

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

We all know that Texas high school football teams love to toss the ball around and light-up the scoreboard. Click here to read a good story on the origin of the spread offense in the Lone Star State from ESPN Rise.

Headlines Inside The Huddle

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

The High School Football Huddle network of blogs continues to grow and reach more-and-more fans.

Right now we're closing in on 600,000 page views as we start our third season! Thanks to everyone for visiting us on a regular basis, and I promise you bigger-and-better things in '09.

For those of you that are new to The High School Football Huddle, I'll take a few sentences to explain what you'll find within the network.

First, The High School Football Huddle is actually 52 blogs in all...one for each state, plus the District of Columbia. Each state Huddle can be accessed by going to the link section on the right side. Each state, plus DC is listed there...example Alaska Huddle, Florida Huddle, Wisconsin Huddle, etc. Just click on the link and you'll be taken to the state you desire.

My overall goal is to put stories that have a universal interest on The High School Football Huddle, the rest of the stories go on to the respective state websites.

To help Huddle fans, at the end of each day, I'll post on the main site, the headlines of the day that will include a link to the stories.

We'll start with yesterday's headlines...

Arizona Huddle: FOX Sports Arizona to Provide Plenty of Friday Night Lights Click here for story
Wisconsin Huddle: Reaction to Wisconsin's Proposed Statewide Realignment Click here for story
Wyoming Huddle: 2009 Wyoming High School Football Schedules Click here for story

If you have suggestions or news stories you'd like to share with others, I can be contacted at jeff@blitzgroupllc.com or of course you can reach me through the comments section located at the bottom on each posted story.

You can also keep up with me on Twitter by click on the "Follow me on Twitter " link in the sidebar below about me.

Here's to a great 2009 high school football season!!

Jeff Fisher

Powerhouse States: Texas, Florida, California...and Utah?

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

With Utah gaining more-and-more notoriety on the national college football scene, it only stands to reason that high school football in the state has something to do with the Utes rise to national prominence.

Today, the Salt Lake Tribune has a story that looks at Alta and Bingham high schools. Both teams enter the season ranked in Max Preps.com's Top 50....Bingham is 27th and Alta 31st. Alta teams will have an opportunity to show what the state's top program is made of when the Hawks face one of the top teams from Texas early in the 2009 season.

Alta faces Trinity of Euless, Texas in the Herbstreit Varsity Series. Trinity spent most of the 2008 season ranked #1 by several top national publications. However, before the September 7th match-up, Alta and Bingham have their own little squabble to settle when they square-off on August 28th.

The Alta Hawks are Utah's two-time defending 5A state champs entering the season, but didn't ascend to the top of the heap until 2007 when it finally disposed of Bingham in the state semis. Last year Alta won its second straight title by beating its arch-rival in the title game.

Click here to read today's story in the Salt Lake Trib.

For more stories from Utah, click here to go to the Utah High School Football Huddle.