South Carolina high school football team finally wins, snaps 35-game losing streak

The Eau Claire Shamrocks had not won a football game since before the pandemic

Gary Adornato | Aug 31, 2024

As the Eau Claire (SC) football team lined up to shake hands following its game on Friday night, the Shamrocks basked in the glow of the scoreboard, which still flashed the final score. Eau Claire defeated Bethune-Bowman, 34-18, to end a 35 game losing streak, the ninth longest in the nation entering the 2024 season. / Eau Claire High Instagram

For a team whose nickname is the Shamrocks, the Eau Claire High (South Carolina) football team sure has experienced more than its fair share of bad luck on the gridiron over the last five years. The Shamrocks took the field for their second game of the 2024 season, Friday night, in the throws of a 35-game losing streak, the longest current streak in the state and the ninth longest such streak in the nation.

At the end of the night, the streak was no more.

The Shamrocks raced out to an early 20-0 lead and defeated Bethune-Bowman 34-18.

A determined Eau Claire (SC) football team took the field Friday night and the Shamrocks would on to defeat Bethune Bowman, 34-18, to end their 35-game losing streak, the longest in South Carolina and the ninth longest in the nation. / Eau Claire High Instagram

Prior to the Friday night, Eau Claire had not won a football game since edging Columbia, 20-19, on Nov. 1, 2019, a span of four years and nine months. The Shamrocks opened their 2024 season, last week, with a 30-6 loss to Ridgeland to extend the streak to 34.

Below is a list of the nation's longest high school football losing streaks (30 or more games) heading into the 2024 football season

Austin (Tx) Eastside Memorial 49
Lohn (Tx) 45
Okemos (Mich) 40
Garinger (NC) 39
Ft. Worth (Tx) Diamond Hill-Jarvis 37
Southwood (La) 37
Flint New Standard (Mich) 36
Bayfield (Wisc) 35
Eau Claire (SC) 34
Progreso (Tx) 34
Monte Alto (Tx) 34
Fred T. Foard (NC) 34
Highland Tech (NC) 34
White Lake (Wisc) 33
Hamtramck (Mich) 33
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (Tx) 32
West Caldwell (NC) 31
Pickering (La) 31

Follow SBLive South Carolina throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

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Published Aug 31, 2024|Modified Aug 31, 2024

GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University, and in 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.