When Maryville High School kicks off its season Friday at Knoxville Halls, the Rebels will be looking to extend the state’s longest consecutive winning streak. Maryville has won 60 straight games, including each of the last four Class 4A state championships.

The Rebels’ streak ranks second nationally, behind Batesville (MS) South Panola, which goes into the season having won 75 and five consecutive Class 5A state titles.

“I think this is the most phenomenal run we’ve had in football,” TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter said. “We’ve had other winning streaks that were impressive, Cleveland won 54 straight and Brentwood Academy had a nice run. But what Maryville has done is just unbelievable. They play in such a tough classification and just keep rolling year after year.”

Maryville, and neighboring Class 2A power Alcoa, are looking to claim an unprecedented five consecutive state titles this season. The Rebels already own a state-record 11 overall championships and their current streak is Tennessee’s best of the modern era. Their last loss was a three-point ovetime defeat at Morristown West in the 2003 semifinals.

Maryville is four wins from moving into the top 10 prep winning streaks of all time. The Rebels lost senior Aaron Chamberlain, one of three players vying for the starting quarterback job, for at least three weeks. Chamberlain had an appendectomy earlier this week.

Other teams looking to extend double-digit winning streaks as the season kicks off include South Pittsburg (15), Montgomery Bell Academy (13), Alcoa (12) and St. George’s (12).

One program that enters the season trying end a streak is Red Boiling Springs, which comes in having lost 51 straight. The Class 1A Bulldogs were awarded a forfeit win over Mount Juliet Chrisian in 2003, but their last on-field victory came in the ninth week of the ’02 season, over Pickett County. Since 1986, Red Boiling Springs is 18-202, including a 63-game losing streak from 1986-93.

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