Caldwell’s Last Win: September 3, 2021 — Caldwell 38, Hempstead 6

Maybe Sean Witherwax has a type.

As an assistant at Navasota, he found himself admiring Caldwell —a Class 4A school with an enrollment of 490 about 25 miles west of College Station — from the opposite sideline. He battled them for district championships. He knew there was something there.

“I saw the kids at Caldwell, and they were tough, hard-nosed kids,” Witherwax remembers. “They didn’t have the great athletes, but they worked hard, and that’s what they are now.

“They’ve just kind of been misguided and misled and it slipped away.”

So here he is, entering his second season at the helm of the Hornets, who are mired in a 28-game losing streak. Witherwax won’t pretend to know the secret to turning a program around — “I wish I had the answer, because I’d be really rich” —  but he knows dwelling on it doesn’t serve the mission.

“We don’t talk about streaks and things like that very often,” Witherwax said. “They do come up and we tell them, if we work hard enough, good things are going to happen. That’s just the belief I’ve had my whole career.”

That’s not to say that the Hornets haven’t been close. Last year against Lexington, Caldwell took a 14-point lead into halftime, only to see it evaporate into Loss No. 23.

“You see one bad thing happen, and you’re like, 'Hey, it’s OK, we can deal with this,'” Witherwax said. “But the way they look at it is totally different. They were waiting for the next bad thing to happen. That’s what I’m trying to change.”

The road ahead is difficult for the Hornets, with state finalist Bellville joining an already tough district slate. But their coach is unwavering.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t hopeful,” Witherwax said. “Step by step, day by day, we’re getting better. We’re doing good things.”

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Monte Alto’s Last Win: September 20, 2019 — Monte Alto 21, La Villa 20

It’s hours before Monte Alto’s final scrimmage of the preseason, and coach Federico Gonzalez is anxious.

“I guess I was hoping for this call tomorrow,” Gonzalez said. “I could probably tell you a lot more after tonight.”

The first scrimmage went well for the Blue Devils. The 6 o’clock practices have gone well. For Gonzalez — entering his third year in this tiny 2A school just outside the Rio Grande Valley, but his first as the head coach — his job is to get kids to participate, to build the program up.

“I’m giving them my sense that I believe in them, and they have to believe in themselves, and then we can accomplish anything,” Gonzalez said.

Instilling belief is an uphill climb in a program that’s lost 34 straight. But Gonzalez — who, at times, comes off as much of a motivational speaker as a football coach — is up for the challenge.

“We will make mistakes,” Gonzalez said. “We will fail. But every failure is a learning experience, it’s an opportunity to make ourselves better. But we’ve got to give it 100 percent. That’s all I ask.”

A day later, via text message, a report from the Blue Devils’ second scrimmage against Santa Maria.

“We did very well, looking forward to this Friday!” Gonzalez wrote. “Had some good offensives snaps and our defense held them to only one score!”

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Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis’ Last Win: November 7, 2019 — Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis 23, Fort Worth Western Hills 20

Jonathan Cruz is not the sugar-coating type.

“We’re very direct,” Cruz said. “I want to be very transparent with our kids, because they need the same thing that any other team needs. And to be honest with you, that’s one of the things that calls me to the work we do. They just want an opportunity.”

That means talking honestly about the state of play for the Eagles: 37 consecutive defeats, and just seven wins in their last 134 games stretching back to 2010. It might be the toughest job in Texas high school football…which makes their third-year head coach’s infectious cheeriness all the more remarkable.

“We’ve been trying hard to bring a real offseason program, developing character and culture and changing the climate of the school,” Cruz said. “We’re dedicating ourselves to the weight room. And you know, from Year 1 to Year 2, we saw our margins drop. We put a few more points on the board. We were a lot more competitive.”

Cruz, who helped lead Arlington Oakridge to an SPC state championship before working under the venerable Anthony Criss at Arlington Sam Houston, has had offers. Big-name Texas high school football programs — the kind that haven’t lost 37 games in a decade, let alone in a row — have called him to join their staff. Yet here he is.

“I just feel like the work we do is bigger,” Cruz said. “For me, it's bigger than the game of football. We get the opportunity to influence young people's lives and help grow young people. I think if I wouldn't have fallen in love with that side of this job, who knows where I’d be.”

And that pesky losing streak?

“One win, and it’s gone,” Cruz grinned. “You reset it all. That’s what I’ve told my guys through fall camp: y’all have such an amazing opportunity.”

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Austin Eastside’s Last Win: October 27, 2017 — Austin Eastside 21, Somerset Academy Brooks 6

On the banks of Boggy Creek, the Austin Eastside Panthers have some pep in their step. It may be six in the morning, with dawn breaking over the Austin skyline, but there's no lack of energy.

“Our practice was very positive, very upbeat,” said Luis Becerra, who's about to begin his seventh season as head coach. “To see that going into game week, the boys are confident. They have that belief in themselves, which is not something we’ve had around here.”

Let’s get it out of the way: Austin Eastside is 0 for its last 48. The Panthers haven’t won a game in nearly seven calendar years. It’s the state’s longest active skid, and the ninth-longest in UIL 11-man history.

That’s the bad news. The good news, according to their coach? That’s all about to change.

“They’re hungry,” Becerra said. “They’re hungry and they want to get the culture changed here.”

Becerra came to Eastside from Austin Navarro, where he was defensive coordinator. When the opportunity to become the Panthers’ head coach arose, he pounced. There’s real potential, he thought — “I think something special can be done at that place,” he remembers saying.

That was in 2018; he hasn’t won a game at Eastside. You’d never know it by talking to him.

“One of our things — I stole it from Jimmy Johnson — is that positive attitude plus effort equals performance,” Becerra said. “We’re not preaching scoreboard. We’re not preaching wins and losses. We’re preaching attitude and effort.”

Eastside’s junior varsity team went 5-5 last season, fueling hope for the 2024 campaign. And while the program continues to struggle with numbers (just six lettermen return from last year’s varsity team), there’s exciting young talents on the horizon.

But perhaps their most important returner is their coaching staff, which has remarkably stayed intact through the lean times. Becerra’s daughter lives outside Houston; he’d love to live closer someday. But he can’t right now.

“I believe that I’m where I’m supposed to be at this moment in my life,” Becerra said. “I haven’t had any desire to leave. I’m not done here.”

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The Caldwell Hornets open the 2024 season at Groesbeck. The Monte Alto Blue Devils play at Premont. The Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis Eagles take on Fort Worth South Hills. The Austin Eastside Panthers host Austin Navarro.

They’re all 0-0.