Gasparilla International Film Festival 2009

In 34 years, one high school team has never lost. “The Streak” began in 1973, and the Eagles piled up 459 consecutive victories and went 468 matches without a defeat. Both of those numbers are national records for a high school team in any sport. In the suburbs of Tampa, Florida these are normal kids from normal families. The picture painted isn’t sugar-coated. The group is flawed, and that’s what helps make them perfect — perfect enough to go unbeaten for 34 years. In the film, we meet the typical coach’s son who was born to be a star. We laugh at the vocal leader drenched in hubris. We relate to the silent hero who feels the pressure, the late bloomer who finds himself, and the gentle giant who learns to roar. Yet none of them would mean anything to us without the streak itself. And the streak wouldn’t exist without Coach Russ Cozart who is far from the norm.