Learning begins when Washington sophomore streak ends

CEDAR RAPIDS - It seemed just like a regular day for the sophomore football team at Washington High School.

On that day - Sept. 7, 2012 - the Warriors went into their third game of the season with a 1-1 record. They had beaten Cedar Rapids Kennedy two weeks prior and lost to Iowa City West a week earlier. On that day, they took on Cedar Falls and won, 22-7, improving their record to 2-1.

As expected, the players and coaches were very pleased, as anyone would be after a win. What they didn't know - and frankly couldn't have known - is that that win had just commenced a four-year long winning streak.

The streak persisted from that day in 2012 all the way to Aug. 26, 2016, the first game of the 2016 season when the this year's sophomore team beat Prairie, 24-20. The next week, however, they played Kennedy. The Warriors experienced a shock as they fell, 34-0, to their rival, taking not only the first loss for the season but the first defeat for the sophomore team in four years.

Worry struck the players as they felt they disappointed their coach, Jason Wood, who has coached for the entire winning streak.

'When we went to practice the day after the Kennedy game, everyone was very sad,” said Caleb Velasquez. 'No one was really talking and I think that's because we all felt bad for Coach Wood.”

For Wood, the streak always was a fun thing, but it was never at the top of his priority list. Although he was sad to see the streak come to an end, he cared more about the kids and the fact they felt they had disappointed him.

'Every game is a new game,” Wood said. 'Every play is a new play. The only thing that matters to me is how the kids feel after the most recent game. So when we lost, it was about how the kids felt and not the streak. For me personally, it hurt to see it end but I have a job to do no matter what the outcome.”

Wood expressed this loss is not the end of the world and should not be treated as such. In order to get the sophomore team back into positive mind-set, Washington had to be surrounded with positivity as opposed to negativity.

'We pride ourselves on developing young men first,” Wood said. 'Winning is a byproduct of that. If a kid works hard in school, on the field and understands how important developing as a man is and the process needed to develop, then the rest takes care of itself.”

The sophomore team finished the season with a 4-4 overall recor, 3-1 within its district.

And the possibility of starting another winning streak wanders after consecutive wins to end the season.