Seneca football not surprised by first 4-0 start in over two decades

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Four years ago, Seneca High School football only had 13 players dress for its final game of the season. A 50-0 loss to Madison Central extended the Redhawks losing streak to 26 games, and also marked the departure of another head coach.

After coaching for years at Male and Ballard, Keith Eckloff decided to take over the Redhawks program at its lowest point. From 2011-2018, Seneca had five different head coaches until Eckloff in 2019.

“I don't think the kids had a lot of trust in their coaches to stay and sort of stick things out and so mentally, that was a big hurdle we had to kind of get over,” Eckloff said.

In the second game of his inaugural season, Eckloff and Seneca defeated Shawnee 58-0 to snap a 27-game losing streak. At the end of that season, his players looked at him and asked where he would be going next.

He told them, “No, I’m here.”

It’s been three years since then and now, the Redhawks are off to their best start since 1990, with a 4-0 record.

“I knew this was gonna be a process,” Eckloff said. “I knew what I signed up for and so, they got to see that we were committed to them as a staff and now those commitments are flowing both ways and that's what you're trying to build.”

Senior quarterback Antwan Young Jr. had a feeling his team could be this good. Seneca went 12-1 in summer 7-on-7 games. Seeing his teammates perform like that, Young felt it was the start of something special coming together.

This season, Young has led the offense to score over 40 points in three of their four victories. In the 49-0 win over Shawnee, Young went 8-11 with 328 yards and four touchdowns.

“I knew this was gonna happen, our guys were like ‘Man, we can’t have a year like we had last year,’” Young said. “I was the same way, it’s my last year, I don't want to go out like that. So, I told them, ‘We're not gonna go out like that.’ I said, ‘This is the year to do it.’”

On the other side of the ball, Seneca has also been dominant. According to stats provided by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA), the Redhawks are the only team in the state who has given up less than 10 points scored total for the season.

Last week against Waggener, junior linebacker Terance Wilson had 15 tackles with four tackles for a loss. Eckloff said one of the main things that has worked for his defense has been simplifying their responsibilities and not having them think as much.

“It starts in practice, we’ve got to compete with each other and go off in the game and do what we’ve got to do,” Wilson said.

Before the 2022 season started, Eckloff sat down with his team and the players made a list of goals they wanted to accomplish.

In his first three years as head coach, Eckloff’s team won four total games. The Redhawks' two wins in each of the 2019 and 2021 seasons were the most since 2014, when they won five games.

Their first goal was to get to three wins and then, they wanted to have a winning season.

That first goal has already been accomplished and now, the second goal is only a few wins away from also being checked off.

“The trick for me is to not let them get too overconfident now, this schedule is going to keep getting tougher as we go along here,” Eckloff said.

Thanks to the undefeated start, the Redhawks now have a reason to chase bigger aspirations for the rest of the season and the future.

“I feel like our guys are locked in and they understand sort of where they are,” Eckloff said. “They understand that we're not there yet and it's just a matter of trying to continue to make gains week by week for us. That's all.”

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