CHAMPION — Earlier this season, Champion coach Shawnn Wilson mentioned how there were a multitude of players who could be the difference-maker for the Golden Flashes this season.

In Wednesday’s game against Crestview, five different players scored goals to help propel Champion past the Rebels and keep its undefeated season rolling, 5-0.

“This is the definition of a team,” Wilson said. “We have multiple people that can play, that can do everything that we ask them to do and when you have that and you don’t know who’s going to put the ball in the back of the net, it’s nice to have that with our team.”

The programs have had some intense, but always respectful, battles over the years. That leads to both teams angling to really set the tone early.

On Wednesday, it was Champion who did that.

“We love playing Crestview. We respect them. I respect the coach, I respect the team and program,” Wilson said. “I think when I first came into this program, we wanted to win that game, and it became a very intense, but fun game to be in, and that’s how it started out today. We love playing them and we had nothing but respect for them.”

Carter Chapin got things going for the Flashes, blasting a shot into the net around the halfway mark in the first half.

The goals kept coming for Champion.

In the final 10 minutes before halftime, junior Hunter Maylone and sophomore Evan Tilley joined Chapin on the scoresheet.

Westin Kuhns and Nicolas Abruzzi each added goals in the second half.

Now, eight games in, Champion is unblemished with an 8-0-0 mark.

The team is deep and anyone can make the opposition pay. That’s usually a pretty good recipe for success, and the Flashes have shown that so far this season.

And it’s not just offense that’s fueling Champion. The Flashes’ defense has been oppressive, limiting teams to just three goals against so far this year.

“Not only are we putting points on the board, we’re shutting teams out with a tremendous defense and goalie that we have,” Wilson said. “Kyle Haynie, our center back, had a great stop to prevent a goal early. Our defense and goalie (Ty Horm) keep on playing lights out defense every single game.”

There’s no resting for Champion, however. Winning the first eight games on the schedule is just that. They’re eyeing more. The Flashes are looking to make history.

“I believe these young adults are at this stage, they know, and they want it,” Wilson said. “When you have a team that knows and wants something it’s hard to stop them, and you don’t really need to do much more than to keep on reminding them what they want. They know what they want, which is to try to be the first team to win a regional game for Champion. That’s our ultimate goal, and to do that, you have to win districts and to do that, you have to set a precedent and be dominant, and we’re trying to be dominant.

“We know that there’s peaks, we know that there’s valleys. Can we be dominant when we’re in the valley? And then can we excel better and learn from where we’re at on the peaks?”

Crestview (5-3, 4-1 MVAC Gray Tier) looks to get back in the win column with a road game against East Liverpool on Saturday.

As a young team, Rebels coach Tony Dolan knew Champion was going to be a tough matchup. He wanted the kids to learn above all else, and now they get to apply those lessons against the Potters.

“We’ll have time to work on our wings and work on those little things that we saw tonight,” Dolan said. “(There were) a lot of mistakes, and (I hope we can) take this anger and take it down to East Liverpool.”

Champion plays host to Harding on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.