Shattuck embracing streak, chance to break national record

By Ryan Aber Comments 4
Published: October 26, 2009

Shattuck football coach Troy Bullard didn’t talk to his players about the Indians’ winning streak and their chance to break Morrison’s national eight-man record for consecutive wins.

The Shattuck Indians raise the championship trophy after defeating Temple to win the Class C high school football state championship in Mustang, Okla., Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. By Nate Billings, The Oklahoman Archive

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He didn’t want to jinx it.

"I knew it was a possibility as we got into it a few years, but even this year, I didn’t want to bring it up with them,” Bullard said. "Too many things can happen.”

But after Shattuck beat Balko 48-0 on Oct. 15, Bullard finally addressed it.

Now, the Indians have embraced it.

Friday night, Shattuck beat Sharon-Mutual 46-32 to win its 90th consecutive game and tie the record set by Morrison during its streak that stretched from 1989-95.

This Friday, the Indians host 2-6 Goodwell with a chance to break the record.

"We feel like it’s a big deal, and we want the kids to approach it that way,” Bullard said.

A pep rally for the team will be held Friday morning. Bullard will talk with Shattuck superintendent Randy Holley this morning about a possible ceremony honoring the streak during Friday’s game.

Entering this season, it was unclear exactly when the record would be tied and broken.

Shattuck had two forfeits on its record since the streak began in the opening game of the 2003 season.

In 2003, Yarbrough did not field a team despite being placed in Shattuck’s district. For the 2006-07 seasons, Yarbrough was once again placed in the district and once again failed to field a team. The 2006 game was counted as a forfeit. The expected 2007 game was not.

When Shattuck officials contacted the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association about the record earlier this year, they found out one of those forfeits wouldn’t count toward the streak.

The National Federation of State High School Associations guided the OSSAA on which games would count.

"The NFHS told us to use our policies to determine whether it would’ve been a forfeited game and what wouldn’t be,” the OSSAA’s David Jackson said.

The OSSAA counts forfeits in the first season of district alignments as a win. Games not played in the second season of alignments are not counted.

That struck the 2003 game as part of the record and gave the Indians the chance to both tie and break the record at home.

The wins are still special for Shattuck, even working on a seventh consecutive undefeated season.

The Indians lost their expected starting quarterback, Cade Young, to a torn anterior cruciate ligament before this season started. Other injuries have contributed to the Indians not blowing out teams as often as they have at other times during the streak.

"Luck’s been on our side, and the kids have put in the work to get us in this place,” Bullard said.

Bullard is confident his team won’t experience a post-record letdown.

"We’ll celebrate it, but it’ll be back to business as usual on Monday,” he said. "It might even take some pressure off. Nobody wants to be a part of the team that breaks the streak.”