The numbers for the Jefferson High School football program don’t lie. And they’re not pretty.

The J-Hawks finished 0-9 this season and were outscored, 397-81, losing all nine games by an average margin of 44-9.

They’ve lost 13 straight games since the mid-point of the 2009 campaign, matching the second-longest losing streak in Class 4A football, and they’ve dropped 19 of their last 20 games overall.

Nobody at Jefferson is happy with those number. Not Scott Kibby, the activities director. Not Jim Womochil, the head coach. Not the players, not the fans.

“It was very frustrating this year. There’s no doubt about it,” Kibby said. “I don’t think anybody is satisfied with what happened this year. Everybody is very, very frustrated. And Jim is as upset with the situation as anybody.”

Womochil has compiled a 22-69 record in 10 years as Jefferson’s head coach. He hasn’t had a winning season and made the playoffs just once, when the J-Hawks advanced with a 4-5 record in 2008 and finished 4-6.

“I’m the captain of the ship and a lot of people want to point their fingers,” Womochil said. “It’s up to me to try and make it better.”

Womochil sees better days ahead for Jefferson based on at least four factors:

1.  A new structure in the Metro Youth Football Association that organizes the program for 4th, 5th and 6th graders according to high school districts;
2.  Improved performance by the 7th and 8th grade football programs at Taft, Roosevelt and Wilson, the three middle schools that feed Jefferson;
3.  Better participation numbers for football in the current sophomore and junior classes at Jefferson (next year’s juniors and seniors);
4.  A new strength and conditioning program at Jefferson that was begun about a year ago, directed by Performance Therapies of North Liberty.

“I don’t think we’re as far off as it looks,” Womochil said. “People think I’m crazy when I say the future really has never been brighter, when you talk about the lower levels coming up through.”