Last week I wrote about the 30th anniversary of “Doering’s got a touchdown.”
One year after that famous catch and call, the Union County (Lake Butler) football team won its first state football title in school history.
They proceeded to win two more in a row, giving the Tigers three straight Class 3A state titles from 1994-96.
Their head coach during that run, Robby Pruitt, was part of a then state-record 52 straight wins.
The streak came to an end about a decade later when the Lakeland Dreadnaughts won 53 in a row from 2004-07, including three straight Class 5A state titles.
While impressive, it’s likely no one will break the national record of 151 straight set by De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) from 1992-2003.
I first met Robby before that national streak began in the early 90s when he was the head coach at University Christian (Jacksonville), a place I went to school for nine years.
Aside from broadcasting games for my college alma mater, the University of North Florida, I was also “Voice of the Christians” in 1995 after Robby left.
Pruitt ended up winning four state football championships at University Christian (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992).
That’s seven state titles for Pruitt, who left for Georgia just before the end of the 20th century and led Fitzgerald to the Class 3A final in 2000 and Coffee to the 6A championship game in 2017.
Pruitt’s Georgia teams won eight region titles and had 14 seasons with at least 10 victories.
He was inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame in 2000 and at the time had won more state football championships than any other coach in Florida high school history.
But that changed when Hall of Fame coach Corky Rogers, the winningest high school football coach in state history, came along.
After having some success at Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville), including a then state-record 10 consecutive district titles in the 70s and 80s, Rogers won 10 state titles in 16 state championship game appearances with Bolles (Jacksonville) over 28 seasons.
He compiled a 465-84-1 record in 45 years before stepping down in early 2017.
Meanwhile, Pruitt moved back to Florida last year to be closer to his family and to finish out his retirement in the Sunshine State.
While he may not eclipse the records that Rogers set, he is closing in on 400 wins.
In 39-plus seasons, Pruitt has a record of 392-94-1.
He took over a program in Levy County that had five straight losing seasons.
Prior to his arrival, the Red Devils finished 1-8 in 2021, 3-7 in 2020, 1-9 in 2019, 3-7 in 2018 and 5-6 in 2017.
But a nutrition program, a new weight room, a brand-new field house and new uniforms highlighted the offseason in 2022 as Pruitt brought hope to Williston.
With a 16-1 record, he has won more games in 1.5 years than the previous five years combined.
Following an unbeaten regular season last year, Williston is 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1R in this week’s FHSAA football rankings heading into its showdown at Newberry tonight.
The game will be broadcast on 106.9 FM “I am Country” beginning at 7 p.m.
A win tonight sets up another showdown on Friday, Oct. 20, at Hudson, which is 6-0 and receiving votes in this week’s Class 2S state football rankings.
If they win their next two, it’s likely they could post back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons and secure home field advantage in the FHSAA state playoffs.
Perhaps his biggest feat could be winning a state title at Williston, which has never won one in program history.