Iowa History Daily: On September 8, 1972, Waterloo East lost in football for the first time since 1965. East set the state record of 56 games unbeaten while dominating opponents and capturing six straight state championships.
The streak started in an innocuous way, East tied Cedar Rapids Regis 6-6. With no overtime provisions in place at the time, the tie started off the historic run of the Trojans spanning nearly six years. After a win over Waterloo West to close out the season, East finished with a 4-4-1 record. Without football playoffs in Iowa until 1972, the Trojans stood poised to enter the following season with a little momentum. With a 53-0 over win over Burlington to start 1966, a special season got underway at East to build the streak to three consecutive games unbeaten. The Trojans proceeded to run off a perfect 9-0 record to claim the 4-A state football title. In 1967, East again went undefeated while dominating opponents. On one memorable evening, the Trojans held Dubuque Wahlert to a total of -64 yards.
Still riding the streak, 1968 started off with a bang when the Trojans hosted Chicago St. Joseph’s. Racial tensions flared during halftime of the game and spilled out to engulf the community, and the Governor called out the National Guard to quell a city-wide disturbance while the Trojans extended the streak in front of a nearly empty stadium. Despite the distraction, the season rolled on to culminate in a 28-27 win for the #1 Trojans over their #2 ranked crosstown rivals at Waterloo West to capture another state championship.
In 1969, the Trojans continued to roll behind star running back Jerry Moses who contributed a whopping 244 points to a record-setting 504 scored by East over the a season which included a 98-6 beating of Newton. 1970 and 1971 played out similarly: the Trojans torched opponents in front of large crowds while racking up records and state championships. However, to start 1972, a missed extra-point opened up the door for Sioux City East to upset the Trojans and snap the unbeaten streak at 56 games.
Waterloo East ironically also holds the state’s longest football losing streak. From 1999 to 2006, the Trojans lost a record-setting 62 game losing streak. From 2010 to 2014, Iowa City Regina won 56 games in a row, setting a state record for consecutive wins while tying the unbeaten streak of Waterloo East. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
