The streak remains the longest in the Dayton area of Montgomery, Warren, Greene and Miami counties. Only three are longer in state history: 57 wins for Delphos St. John’s (1996-2000), 55 wins for Kirtland (2018-21) and 54 wins for Versailles (1993-97).
Ohio didn’t start post-season play until 1972. At the time, only the top two teams in each region made the playoffs. Jefferson, playing in what was then the Dayton Suburban League, didn’t high enough in the computer rankings to make the playoffs.
In 1971, the year before post-season play started, the computers ranked Jefferson No. 1.
Bob Gregg, who was head coach at Jefferson for the first 29 games of the streak and later coached Centerville, said in a 1996 Dayton Daily News interview, “With the schedule we played in that Dayton Suburban League we could never get into the playoffs. If we would have, I think we would have won a couple of state championships.”
Vince Shelby was the head coach for the last 20 games of the streak.
A word frequently used to describe the Jefferson team during the streak was “tough,” especially on defense.
A signature win during the streak was a 30-0 victory over Roosevelt in 1973.
“That was like winning the Super Bowl for our guys,” said assistant coach Larry Noffsinger. “Roosevelt was the big-city school talking trash to the little farm school. We went into Welcome Stadium and shut them down.”
After their undefeated season of 1974, the Southwest Ohio conference, which Jefferson had become a member of, was disbanded. Jefferson then joined a conference in 1975 that included Alter, Carroll and Chaminade-Julienne. It was the Broncos’ first game in the new league that ended the streak.
According to the OHSAA website, the current record for longest unbeaten streak (wins and ties, minimum 30) was broken just a few years later, when Ironton went on a 58-game unbeaten streak from 1977 to 1983.
The Streak
| 1970 | |||
| Sept. 11 | at West Milton | L | 8-6 |
| Sept. 18 | Preble Shawnee | W | 70-0 |
| Sept. 25 | Dixie | W | 32-0 |
| Oct. 2 | at Twin Valley South | W | 36-6 |
| Oct. 9 | at Xenia Wilson | W | 61-0 |
| Oct. 16 | National Trail | W | 71-0 |
| Oct. 23 | at Twin Valley North | W | 63-0 |
| Oct. 30 | at Carlisle | W | 34-0 |
| Nov. 6 | Bellbrook | W | 18-14 |
| Nov. 13 | at Valley View | W | 25-13 |
| 1971 | |||
| Sept. 10 | Dunbar* | W | 30-2 |
| Sept. 17 | at Dixie | W | 29-0 |
| Sept. 24 | Twin Valley South | W | 16-7 |
| Oct. 1 | at Xenia Wilson | W | 64-0 |
| Oct. 9 | at National Trail | W | 61-0 |
| Oct. 14 | Twin Valley North | W | 39-0 |
| Oct. 22 | Carlisle | W | 29-0 |
| Oct. 29 | at Bellbrook | W | 28-0 |
| Nov. 5 | Valley View | W | 28-21 |
| Nov. 12 | at Preble Shawnee | W | 40-0 |
| 1972 | |||
| Sept. 8 | Dunbar* | W | 27-0 |
| Sept. 15 | Dixie | W | 58-0 |
| Sept. 22 | at Twin Valley South | W | 29-12 |
| Sept. 29 | Eaton | W | 42-0 |
| Oct. 6 | National Trail | W | 61-0 |
| Oct. 14 | at Twin Valley North | W | 41-6 |
| Oct. 20 | at Carlisle | W | 56-0 |
| Oct. 27 | Bellbrook | W | 62-0 |
| Nov. 3 | at Valley View | W | 28-7 |
| Nov. 10 | Preble Shawnee | W | 47-0 |
| 1973 | |||
| Sept. 8 | Roosevelt* | W | 30-0 |
| Sept. 14 | at Dixie | W | 22-0 |
| Sept. 21 | Twin Valley South | W | 50-6 |
| Sept. 28 | at Eaton | W | 44-0 |
| Oct. 6 | at National Trail | W | 32-14 |
| Oct. 12 | Twin Valley North | W | 44-3 |
| Oct. 19 | Carlisle | W | 52-0 |
| Oct. 26 | at Bellbrook | W | 40-6 |
| Nov. 2 | Valley View | W | 14-0 |
| Nov. 9 | at Preble Shawnee | W | 16-6 |
| 1974 | |||
| Sept. 7 | Roosevelt* | W | 28-8 |
| Sept. 13 | Preble Shawnee | W | 42-0 |
| Sept. 20 | Dixie | W | 24-6 |
| Sept. 27 | at Twin Valley South | W | 32-0 |
| Oct. 4 | Eaton | W | 13-6 |
| Oct. 11 | National Trail | W | 59-0 |
| Oct. 18 | at Twin Valley North | W | 18-0 |
| Oct. 25 | at Carlisle | W | 21-12 |
| Nov. 1 | Bellbrook | W | 35-20 |
| Nov. 8 | Cincinnati Reading | W | 25-14 |
| 1975 | |||
| Sept. 5 | Cincinnati Madeira | L | 14-12 |
*At Welcome Stadium
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