Justin Rich showed no interest in the duration of The Classical Academy’s winning streak that spans from last season to Friday night. All that matters for the Titans’ football coach is his team remains unbeaten this year.

For those who are interested, The Classical Academy’s previous loss occurred 678 days ago and will last at least another week as the Titans improved to 4-0 in 2025 with a 45-25 victory at home against La Junta.

TCA, ranked No. 1 in 2A, is now tied for the state’s longest win streak and joined 5A Cherry Creek, which also has won 17 in a row. But Rich said, “last season is gone.”

“We’re not a defending champion and nobody is going to break into our school and steal the trophy,” Rich said. “This is about 2025 and being 4-0. This is about playing our best football in November, not in September. We’re still trying to get there.”

The Titans lost 16-14 on Nov. 11, 2023, in the quarterfinals to Delta and, since that tilt, no team has managed to contain TCA’s offense nor figure out its defense.

TCA has outscored its opponents 753-213 during the streak and showed its diversified attack against the Tigers. Braden Godoy finished the matchup against the Tigers (2-2) with a hat trick of rushing touchdowns after having just one in the Titans’ three previous games.

 “I feel a little bad because I felt like everyone else was driving down the field and not punching it in,” Godoy said. “But somebody has to score it and I’m glad they trusted me to finish those drives.”

After Nathaniel Thorne hit a 32-yard field goal to give the Titans a 3-0 lead on their opening drive, Godoy scored on a 5- and 4-yard run to build a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. Godoy’s final score of the night came on a 1-yard rush late in the third.

“It means the world to me that my coaching staff trusted me with that responsibility,” Godoy said. “I have to give all glory to God because if it weren’t for Him, I wouldn’t be here. Our motto for this season is, ‘Leave no doubt.’ We’re leaving no doubt on the field and we want to have another very successful season.”

Between Godoy’s touchdown runs, Jackson Smetana connected with Elijah Faughnan on a 25-yard pass. But the Tigers scored three times to cut the lead to 38-19 ahead of the fourth quarter.

Then, after Smetana scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth, the Tigers scored on a 20-yard run to make it 45-25, which is the most points allowed by the Titan defense this season. The Classical Academy certainly won’t sound any alarms. All four wins have come by double digits and the Titans allow just over 17 points.

And most of the Tigers’ scores followed Titan turnovers including a muffed punt and an interception. Rich wants cleaner play but trusts his team to rectify those slip ups.

“It’s always frustrating to commit self-inflicted errors and give up points,” Rich said. “But it was a tough week to focus. We had one practice outdoors because of lightning, but we have to be better at focusing. That being said, it’s good that we won. It’s a good obstacle to overcome, but ideally you want to practice. That’s one of the most important things that we do and to miss out on that and those opportunities is not great. “We knew La Junta would be great. They play downhill and they’re fast. This is not us saying, ‘Woe is me.’  They brought it, had a good plan and played well. We played good football, but we know we can play better football than that.”