Holly Pond coach Mike Bates motions in front of quarterback Michael Lambert during fall camp. 

HOLLY POND — Believe it or not, the longest active winning streak in Cullman County football belongs to the Broncos.

It stands at three, started in the final week of the 2015 regular season and comes on the heels of the state’s longest active losing streak.

At 2-0 so far this fall, Caleb Jones hardly knows what to do with himself.

“It’s pretty crazy from what our recent seasons have been,” the senior superstar said. “It’s not what you expect. After a win, it’s just different. I’ve never practiced after a win because we won our last game last year. You just have a feeling. I’m not sure what the feeling is, but it’s something good.”

Jones and Co. will look to keep the good times rolling in Friday’s home and Region 6 opener against J.B. Pennington. The Tigers, back down in Class 3A after two years a step above, are undefeated as well with blowout wins over Brindlee Mountain (40-0) and 5A Boaz (41-14). They’re averaging more than 400 yards of total offense a night behind Travis Cleveland, Trey Griffin and Bailey Dempsey, and will likely be a handful for Holly Pond’s still-improving defense to stop.

With stopping perhaps out of the question, Jones has a couple other ideas in mind.

“We’ve got to be physical on defense definitely,” the linebacker said. “I think we can put up points with ‘em. But defense, we’re going to have to slow ‘em down. We’re going to have to do something.”

Coach Mike Bates has all the respect in the world for the Broncos’ upcoming opponent. He said J.B. Pennington is deep at every position, big, strong, fast and that “they do everything really well.”

When trying to peg a weakness, the oft-comical commander was pretty much stumped.

So he finally settled on a straw and grasped away.

“I’m not a big fan of their jerseys,” Bates joked. “That’s the only thing I can think of. Other than that, they’re pretty solid. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

Holly Pond is shooting for its first 3-0 start since 2004. The program went 9-2 that year with a playoff berth and a season-opening win against … you guessed it … J.B. Pennington.

The Broncos have lost four of the last five meetings since, however, and trail 14-24 in the all-time series.

Getting a game back Friday won’t come easy. But when in the last three years — most spent mired in a 29-game losing streak — has anything come easy for Holly Pond?

The theme during the down stretch was that the Broncos could compete but just couldn’t close, giving up second half leads in the most heartbreaking of fashions.

There was no breaking last week against Brindlee Mountain, though. Just a whole lot of heart.

Every time the Lions pulled within a score in the second half, Holly Pond had an answer on offense. Quarterback Michael Lambert first ballooned the Broncos’ lead back out with a 5-yard touchdown run and subsequent 2-point carry, leaving Jones to deliver the final blow with a 7-yard scamper for six points with 39 seconds left.

By that time, Savanah Fortner’s historic extra point was only icing on the cake.

Bates felt the difference in Holly Pond holding on instead of folding was the offensive line. He specifically applauded Jake Wilson, Jose Casimiro, Jason Foshee, Isaac Schwaiger, Zac Naler and Tyler Boatright for pushing their weight and allowing the Broncos to “pound the football” down the stretch.

Naler and Boatright were both bright spots at guard despite shifting over from their usual spots at tight end and fullback. Injuries have also forced Casimiro to step in at center.

In Naler’s and Casimiro’s cases, that’s just what seniors do.

“The first year coach Bates came, we were freshmen,” Jones said. “Twelve, 13 of us, we all touched the field. I think it’s just all of us mainly getting bigger and stronger. We can have better endurance. We can finish a game now.”

Jones said he feels Scott Adams also has a great deal to do with Holly Pond’s newfound belief. Adams led the Broncos to the playoffs four times as head coach from 2001-2005 and is back with the program as an assistant after a fruitful reign atop the school’s girls basketball team.

“He’s definitely all over some of the seniors,” Jones said. “He keeps us motivated. He gets you going. He won’t let you quit.”

Through just two games, Jones has tallied 412 rushing yards, six touchdowns on the ground and seven overall. Lambert’s been stellar as well with five total TDs.

Jones already has more than half as many touchdowns as he did in 2015 and is well on his way to reaching his goal of 1,000 yards.

Casimiro doesn’t expect anything less, not out of his running back nor the rest of his football family at Holly Pond.

“That’s one of our keys, and right now we’ve already opened two doors with him,” he said. “We’re hoping to open another eight, possibly nine.”