Ten to Remember: reliving the biggest games of West Holmes' 23-game winning streak
West Holmes scratched and clawed to beat Orrville in Week 2, adding to one of the most impressive win streaks in the state.
Twenty-three straight regular season wins, breaking the mark of 22 regular season wins in a row set by the Knights of 1981-83.
The Knights are in the midst of one of the best runs in area history with back-to-back undefeated seasons, and plenty of playoff success to go along with it.
West Holmes will be more concerned about extending the streak to 24 this Friday against Licking Valley, but the accomplishment shouldn't be lost.
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Here are the highlights of 10 of the most significant games from the streak:
10. Bishop Watterson, 2021
A COVID outbreak forced Triway to pull out of the annual Knights-Titans rivalry matchup, leaving West Holmes scrambling for a Week 1 opponent. Despite getting the game scheduled about 24 hours before kickoff, the Knights settled in against a good Bishop Watterson team and went into Week 2 with an impressive 26-16 win.
9. Shelby, 2021
Shelby entered its Week 8 matchup with the Knights with only one loss. Nobody had slowed down the Whippets' offense all year. Until West Holmes. The Knights showed their defensive fangs in a 51-14 win, forcing five turnovers and dominating from start to finish.
8. Mansfield Senior, 2022
The expectations for West Holmes were sky high entering the 2022 season, and a Week 4 matchup against a talented Senior team was the big test on the schedule early in the year. The Knights passed with flying colors, dominating in every facet of a 37-7 win to provide a major statement against a Tygers team that finished 10-3.
7. Wooster, 2022
The Knights came into a matchup with Wooster with a clear talent advantage for the first time in a long time, but the stranglehold the Generals had over the rivalry was still fresh. West Holmes made sure everyone knew it was the new program in charge of the Ohio Cardinal Conference with a 48-6 win — the largest margin of victory in the series in 10 years.
6. Ashland, 2022
Perhaps the weirdest game of the streak featured more than 1,000 yards of total offense and 102 combined points. The Arrows scored more points than any opponent during the streak, putting up 39 while outgaining the Knights. Still, West Holmes won 63-39 and the streak was never seriously in jeopardy.
5. At Triway, 2022
Coming off a PAC-7 title and returning many of its key players, Triway marched into Week 1 with hopes of challenging the Knights. West Holmes left the door open after a sloppy first half but made sure everyone knew it was in a class by itself among local teams with a dominant second half, ending in a 41-7 win.
4. Ashland, 2020
The start of the streak. Ashland entered the final week of the shortened 2020 regular season undefeated. It left Millersburg with a 35-14 loss, propelling West Holmes into the playoffs on a positive note and helping the Knights win a share of the OCC title for the first time since 2014.
3. At Mansfield Senior, 2021
West Holmes has largely dominated opponents during the streak, with 20 of its 23 wins coming by 10 points or more. But the Knights very dangerously flirted with defeat in the three other games, including this one in Week 4 on the 2021 season at Arlin Field. Trailing 17-7 entering the fourth quarter against an elite high school defense, the Knights came alive with two TDs in the first six minutes of the final quarter before staving off the Tygers' final charge to escape with the win.
2. Orrville, 2023
Orrville had the Knights on the ropes as much as anyone during the streak. The Red Riders were driving in the fourth quarter, up by 10 points. They had a chance to take a three-possession lead late in the game. Instead, West Holmes forced a turnover, scoring on a 90-yard Morgan Smith-to-Logan Zollars pass a play later and roared back to earn regular season win No. 23 in a row.
1. Wooster, 2021
West Holmes coach Zach Gardner talked about the "ghosts" of Wooster after the game, referring eight straight losses to the Generals in the rivalry. Scaling Mount Wooster was important to West Holmes' pursuit of a league title, undefeated season, etc., but a win against the Generals was somehow bigger than that.
Rallying from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit, West Holmes scored twice in the six minutes and forced a crucial Wooster fumble in the red zone, exercising any ghosts and catapulting West Holmes to a new level.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Football: 10 big games from West Holmes' 23-game winning streak
