By the Numbers: The Streak

ELSA - When the Edcouch-Elsa ISD hired Joe Solis to take over as athletic director and head football coach in 2003, Solis had one job: Win.
Actually his duties entailed a little more.
At that point, the Yellowjackets hadn't won a district title since 2000 and last made the playoffs in 2001.
The Yellowjackets hadn't won more than six games in one season since the 1998 campaign.
It was very uncharacteristic of Edcouch-Elsa football and it was Solis' job to steer the ship - or in this case La Maquina - in the right direction.
Solis took over and brought a renewed sense of pride to the Delta Area.
The veteran coach brought a champion's attitude that trickled down from his coaches to the players.
The result was five straight district titles and counting, and an amazing 51-8 record.
And as the proverbial cherry on top, E-E produced a record win streak of regular season games that encompassed five seasons.
La Maquina's 37-game win streak is the focus of today's "By The Numbers" summer series.
Following a 42-7 loss to Donna in Week Two of the 2003 season, the Yellowjackets reeled off 37 straight regular-season wins.
The streak ended last season when the Weslaco Panthers won a one-point decision at Yellowjacket Stadium.
Port Isabel previously held the record mark with 29 games from 1980-83
"It took a lot of hard work to accomplish what we did," Solis said. "We hadn't realized what we did until the (2007) season was over. We realized what we did was great for our tradition."
E-E finished the regular season 7-2 in 2003 and won it first district title in three years.
That year the Yellowjackets traveled to Brownsville to battle Porter for the league pennant.
It was a storybook season for the Cowboys and their quarterback Billy Garza. But La Maquina ended that chapter with an overtime win.
E-E then beat Harlingen South in the regular season finale to secure its first of five straight league championships.
The next three seasons were nothing short of spectacular.
E-E recorded three straight 10-0 seasons (2004-06) re-establishing itself as one of the premier programs in the Valley and South Texas.
Some of the more memorable moments of that period include running back Fred Loredo's 2,000-yard season in 2004.
The Yellowjackets came agonizingly close to beating old nemesis Calallen in the playoffs that year too.
E-E broke the Coastal Bend Curse the next year by defeating Gregory-Portland in the postseason.
The 'Jackets went three-deep in the playoffs in 2005-06.
"Everyone's out to get you every week," Solis said. "We never really talked about it. It got harder and harder every week. But it still wasn't our main focus. We were just trying to be successful."
The streak ended in Week One last season when the Panthers crashed the party in Elsa.
The Yellowjackets actually had a shot to keep the streak alive.
Solis elected to go for the two-point conversion at the end of the game and the Yellowjackets couldn't convert.
The loss marked the end of one of the most amazing runs by a Valley team ever.
But the loss had no bearing on the Yellowjackets at the end of the season.
E-E finished 9-1 and remained unbeaten in district for the fifth straight season.
So it was business as usual for the Solis and the Yellowjackets.
"When I took over the numbers (of kids playing football) were low here," Solis said. "That was the most challenging job for us when we took over. There were a lot of good players during that run. We don't retire jerseys here (at E-E). If we did, there wouldn't be any jerseys around."

By the Numbers is a periodic series that corresponds the number of days until the start of the 2008 Valley high school football season with a memorable athlete or moment. Today marks 37 days until kickoff.