Division III school cancels 2019 football season after 53 straight losses

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Earlham College last won a game over five years ago. (Getty Images)
Earlham College last won a game over five years ago. (Getty Images)

Earlham College’s 53-game losing streak is the longest such streak in Division III college football history. And that losing streak is going to be paused on 53 games for the foreseeable future.

The school said Tuesday that it was canceling the 2019 football season because of its lack of competitiveness. Earlham ended the 2018 season with a 70-6 loss to Rose-Hulman on Saturday.

“Our board of trustees has been looking at football with concern for several years, and we agree that it is time to consider whether or not success on the football field is a goal we should pursue,” Earlham interim president Avis Stewart said in a statement. “This decision was not made easily or lightly, but I am convinced that it is the right one at this point in the history of the College.”

Earlham last won a game in October of 2013. The school said the program will return in 2020, but only if three conditions are met. Those conditions include securing appropriate funding for football, hiring a “highly qualified” coach and recruiting “an appropriate number” of players for the football team.

Per the Pal Item, Earlham fielded just 42 players in 2018. Only three were seniors. Those seniors never won a game in their college careers.

In case you were wondering, Earlham’s losing streak has a ways to go to be the longest in NCAA college football history. FCS school Prairie View A&M lost 80 straight games from 1989-1998.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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