The streak's over, but for what?

LOCAL CONNECTION

On the same day a small school from the mountains of North Carolina defeated a college football giant, the thrill of victory; another football team from North Carolina lost unexpectedly, experiencing the agony of defeat. Oh, the irony.

Independence (Charlotte) High School’s streak is over.

The Patriots 109 consecutive victories, the second longest in U.S. history and most ever by a public school, ended exactly seven-years after it began.

A sloppy second half hurt the Pats as they lost 41-34 in overtime to Cincinnati’s Elder High School during the Burger King/Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge. However, this begs the question, why did Independence have to travel all the way to Ohio to play a football game?

It’s not like this is Idaho or Montana where you have one, maybe two high schools in a city and cities are 100-miles apart. Charlotte has 20 high schools. No reason in population center like this, should high school teams need to travel 490 miles to play a sport.

So why did Independence risk the streak and play in Ohio? The Patriots sought their first true national exposure and got it. Saturday’s game was one of eleven that were broadcast on ESPN.

And that chance for glory? Well, that went right out the window with untimely turnovers.

It’s hard to envision another high school team in the Carolina’s taking down the Patriots. But we won’t ever know. Hindsight is always 20/20 and it says the trip to Ohio for television exposure was not worth it.

This week, Independence gets a fresh start, something they haven’t had for seven years. Only time will tell what happens.

Blogger’s Note: Chris Leak, former University of Florida quarterback and Offensive MVP of the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, was recently cut by the Chicago Bears. Leak led Independence High School to three-consecutive state championships (2000, 2001, 2002) and started the streak with 46-straight wins as a starter. Independence's streak of seven-straight NC state championships still stands. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) High School owns the longest win streak among high school teams with 151 consecutive victories between 1992-2004.