It’s hard to believe that last night was the start of yet another high school football season but it was.
For North Montgomery and Southmont this is the start of the 56th football season and for Crawfordsville it is season No. 114, So in other words, we have a lot of football history and that doesn’t even include the county schools that played prior to the consolidation of North and South.
Southmont is coming off its best season in the history of the program — by number of wins in a season. The Mounties were 11-2 and those 11 wins were one more than the two 10-0 teams (1971 and 1981).
Overall, the Mounties have had 24 seasons that have ended with a winning record. Two other seasons ended with a .500 record and there have been 29 seasons where the school has ended the season with a losing record. In addition to the two undefeated seasons, the Mounties have also had two seasons which ended winless (1988 and 2005).
The team has won two sectional titles, both coming in the last three years (2023 and 2025) and one regional title (2023).
While Southmont is coming off its best season, North Montgomery is coming off its worst as it ended last year with a 1-9 record.
The Chargers have had 28 winnings seasons, led by the 13-1 seasons of 1995 and 1996 — the years the Chargers were State Champions in Class 2A. There have been two other one-loss seasons: 12-1 in 2008 and 9-1 in 1986.
There have been six seasons that have resulted in a .500 record and that leaves 21 losing seasons. The Chargers last winning season was in 2023 when the Coach Josh Thompson-led team went 6-5.
The Chargers have won three sectional titles (1995, 1996 and 2008), two regionals (1995 and 1996), two semi-states (1995 and 1996) and the two state titles.
Crawfordsville has had 52 winnings seasons led by the 12-1 season in 1989 and the 9-1 season of 1972. Crawfordsville was undefeated in three seasons: 8-0 in 1909, 8-0-1 in 1968 and 2-0 in 1906. The Athenians have had six .500 seasons and 56 losing seasons. In addition to the three undefeated seasons, Crawfordsville has gone winless in six seasons and has had a lone win in 21 other seasons.
The last winning season for the Athenians came when they went 7-4 under Coach Rex Ryker in 2007.
Barry Lewis has been involved with Montgomery County sports as a player, coach, journalist or broadcaster for more than 50 years and likes sharing through his column and on his Facebook page Montgomery County Sports & More.
