Category: Outside The Box

Nearly 11 miles in the air: Will the most career passing yards record ever be broken?

It’s time to take another look at the Mauk brothers’ legacy.

All gas, no brakes, and certainly no punting.

Yep, with 2024 graduation commencements afoot, the Dog Days of Summer looming, and a high football season on the distant horizon, it’s back… the “Mauk” question.

Will the most passing yards in high school football history ever be broken?

Probably not?

Maybe?

You know a kid … ?

While high school football hasn’t shifted to a complete “pass first” style of offense — Wing-T and a cloud of turf rubber for the win — that’s not to say the game at this level hasn’t mirrored some of the playbook tendencies in college and of course the NFL. 

Just look at the 2023 season, where slingers like DJ Lagway and Dylan Raiola lit up defenses with an air attack that had the opposing team’s secondary on their heels — and the social media world on standby, ready to hit send:

Predecessors of the air attack have dotted the high school gridiron the last few decades, a showcase of arm talent — perhaps mixed with the often commonplace makeup of the defense — that produced career-like stat lines in one season.

And when the final game of their senior seasons ended, the actual career numbers stood in otherworldly territory you’d typically find in video games set on Beginner Mode.

Will those types of numbers ever be repeated by some of the play-callers in the forthcoming graduating classes?

Or ever?

When scouring the archives and considering things like most passing yards of all time, it seems like the answer is no.

The hypothetical answer first lies within the math

One of the most prolific passers in 2023, Gage Baker, threw for over 6,000 yards at Paradise Honor (Surprise, Ariz.), adding to a career total of 11,769.

Those are incredible numbers, and move him ahead of two great quarterbacks in Josh Booty and Greg Paulus.

But that’s still outside the top 25.

Baker would have needed at least three years with the same output to come close to the all-time best, but even then, close is not the same as overtaking the lead.

The big chips?

Arch Manning, one of the most prominent national high school stars we’ve seen in recent years, ended his career at Isidore Newman (La.) with 8,539 yards passing. Uncle Peyton had 7,207. Uncle Eli had 7,389.

Fellow Longhorns slinger Quinn Ewers didn’t crack 7,000.

The two aforementioned 2023 standouts are in the same area. Lagway ended his career at Willis (Texas) with 8,392 yards passing. Raiola ended his remarkable journey from Arizona to the Georgia high school football fields with 8,442 yards.

(Without question, both Lagway and Raiola caused torment with their legs, too, so the passing totals are taken with dash of data salt.)

But, none of the those respectable hauls cracked the top 100 of all time, where names like Brock Purdy (8,932 yards) loom.

Which QBs have come close?

Some of the most recent names to make a significant push up the list were Richard Stallworth, who finished his Yuma Catholic (Ariz.) career in 2022 with 12,590 yards; Sam Huard, the Washington standout who set a state record with 13,226 yards; and Aaron Philo, who made the most significant mark during his time at Prince Avenue Christian (Shreveport, La.) — which ended in 2023 — throwing for 13,922 yards.

That placed him ahead of notable NFL names and Heisman winners Trevor Lawrence and Bryce Young.

Still, all of them are well outside even the top five…

13. Tucker Israel, Lake Nona (Orlando, Fla.)

Career passing yards: 14,082 (2011-14)

12. Travis Quintanilla, Refugio (Texas)

Career passing yards: 14,228 (2011-13)

11. Hunter Lile, Booker (Texas)

Career passing yards: 14,408 (2011-14)

10. J.R. House, Nitro (Wv.)

Career passing yards: 14,457 (1995-98)

9. Will Grier, Davidson Day (N.C.)

Career passing yards: 14,565 (2011-13)

8. Myles Brennan, St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.)

Career passing yards: 15,138 (2013-16)

7. Layne Hatcher, Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, Ark.)

Career passing yards: 15,483 (2014-17)

6. Chris Leak, Independence (Charlotte, N.C.)

Career passing yards: 15,593 (1999-02)

5. Grant Gunnell, St. Pius X (Houston, Texas)

Career passing yards: 16,108 (2015-18)

4. Alex Huston, Glendale High School (Springfield, Mo.)

Career passing yards: 16,566 (2015-18)

3. Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)

Career passing yards: 16,775 (2012-15)

2. Ben Mauk, Kenton (Ohio)

Career passing yards: 17,364 (1999-02)

1. Maty Mauk, Kenton (Ohio)

Career passing yards: 18,932 (2008-11)

Mauk during his record-setting career at Kenton (Ohio).

And with that, we’re back at where we started.

Will any high school quarterback ever top Maty Mauk’s total?

Every year, we look at those five-digits like a blinking neon sign and throw hypothetical head-tilts at it like we’re gauging an entree on “Man vs. Food.”

And every year, it seems like surpassing 18,932 yards is an uphill battle that will go untouched forever.

The hypothetical answer also lies within a coach’s decision-making

Aside from probably needing to be a four-year starter, with an above-average freshman campaign, or a three-year starter with a huge sophomore season, there’s also the physicality required for such gaudy numbers.

Ben Mauk threw 1,905 passes during his career; Maty threw 2,110.

The next-closest total to either is at 1,745.

That’s a lot of throws.

Mike Mauk, who coached both his sons and the No. 4 all-time passing leader, Alex Huston, didn’t rely on the pass-happy philosophy because he wanted his quarterbacks to be record-breaking.

Viewed by many as a pioneering icon in high school football, Mauk instead constructed the 5-wide/no running/no punting (seriously, no punting) concept, at least in his mind, out of necessity.

“If you look at the Kenton (Ohio) program when we came here back in 1983, we had to find a way to be competitive in our league and we had not had great success in past years. We had nine winning seasons in the history of the school in the Western Buckeye League. We sure couldn’t line up and run the Wing-T or the conventional offenses a lot of teams were running. We tried for three-four years and weren’t successful. Finally, we had to turn things around and we began to throw the football.”

And, oddly enough, a quote from Ben Mauk to MaxPreps in 2011 about his record being topped by little brother sheds light on one factor that compounds that issue.

“Other people know more about them (records) than I do. State champs — I’ll remember that a lot longer than records. When you play a team sport like football, it’s not about individuals. I sat out a lot. In a lot of fourth quarters, I had my shoulder pads off and watched from the sidelines. In a lot of games I had 500 yards at halftime. Maybe I could have thrown for 1,000 yards and set a national record.”

Sportsmanship, though a concept historically brushed in gray areas, is under a far greater microscope in the Social Media Age.

But could it be that type of old-school lesson that actually hits the brakes on any QB coming close to breaking the record?

Or do you really know a kid …?

Is it time for high school sports to adopt more video challenges?

Manasquan’s loss in the New Jersey high school basketball semifinals due to a missed call sparks the question: Should video challenges be allowed?

The aftermath of the New Jersey high school basketball semifinals game in which Manasquan’s would-have-been game-winning buzzer-beater was overturned and ruled to have been released after the game clock expired was pretty cut-and-dry:

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) rulebook states that video can’t be used to challenge a referee’s decision. It also prohibits protesting a game’s result due to an official’s call.

Per the rulebook, Camden won despite the NJSIAA publicly acknowledging the call was incorrect and apologizing.

There’s no argument because the rulebook states there can’t be.

But we can certainly ask: Why?

In the NBA, games can be protested. We’ve seen it multiple times this season alone—for instance, in mid-February, when the New York Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets due to a call officials later stated was incorrect. Or in late February, when the Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons due to a non-call by officials that was later stated to be an incorrect ruling.

Throughout professional sports, we’ve seen rules change in a single offseason following an inarguably disastrous referee decision. Think of the NFL’s short-lived pass interference challenge rule in the wake of the New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams playoff game in 2019.

There are also some instances in high school sports where video replay is acceptable. In the California Interscholastic Federation, for instance, video can be used to both call for suspensions and appeal the decisions. In New Jersey just last year, video was likely used in the decision to suspend Camden’s season after a fight broke out during a game. (The difference there, though, is that these videos likely aren’t challenging the decision of an official. It’s making a new decision to affect future outcomes without overturning an existing result. But if video is deemed reliable here, perhaps it can be reliable in other instances).

Video is often widely and immediately available. The Manasquan vs. Camden game was streamed live by NFHS Network. Many other basketball games have fans with phones out and cameras open at nearly all times. Shouldn’t a modern rulebook acknowledge that referees, being human, will make mistakes and that there are times when challenges are necessary?

But it’s not exactly an easy answer—at least, not everywhere. With thousands of high school sporting events every week, reliable video isn’t everywhere. Some sporting events are extremely sparsely attended, and others take place on a field that might not allow for tight enough camera work from a phone (think of a soccer pitch, for instance).

Adding the necessity of video adds another element that would pose additional disadvantages to athletic departments from poor zip codes, ones that may already struggle to provide basic amenities for a sports program. Then, regardless of zip code, ensuring enough video angles to make the correct decision would be nearly impossible. In NBA and NFL games, fans have access to pretty much any angle, slow motion, freeze-frame, and zoom-in capabilities. A couple of phones can’t do that.

Plus, anecdotally, it would be a logistical nightmare. There are lots of calls made by amateur referees that could be challenged on a night-to-night basis. Game pauses would be more brutal than in the pros. And with high schools already suffering from referee shortages around the nation in large part due to abuse from parents and coaches, it doesn’t seem like a sound idea to set the groundwork for phones to be shoved in officials’ faces. (Let alone coaching shortages, with some parents seeming to feel increasingly entitled to berate them).

With that said, there’s probably a middle ground. Challenging individual calls during a high school basketball game would be a logistical nightmare, but there are ways to make exceptions in extreme moments. For instance, when there is video evidence readily available for a call that could decide a championship?

It’s time to enter the 21st century.

14 of the greatest single-season RB performances in high school history

Rushing into history…

There weren’t enough players on defense to stop them. They scorched the turf on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, leaving behind tracks of a legacy that many probably can’t comprehend as being athletically possible.

The top running backs in high school history have racked up yards and touchdowns that look like year-end team statistics. However, these were solo acts of legendary status, taking the accepted 1000-yard achievement and multiplying it sometimes by four!

Ahead of the pack are these 14 backfield juggernauts, talented individuals with single-season performances that have reigned supreme in high school rushing history.

The Chargers superfan conspiracy has roots in youth football

Chargers superfan Merrianne Do made waves and had people question her authenticity. Turns out, one hint was rooted in youth football.

The Monday Night Football camera panned to a fan going absolutely wild for her Los Angeles Chargers. Fists clutched, muttering under her breath; it was the purest and truest display of fandom possible.

Or was it?

Social media, as it often does, questioned the story. A Chargers superfan? And the camera simply found her? And wouldn’t leave her alone? Let me repeat — a superfan … for the Chargers? I have artificial plants in my house that are more convincing than this NFL plant.

Turns out, according to all accounts of those who know her or have second-hand sources, this woman is legit. Merrianne Do has appeared on the news since, recounting her tale.

She answered an important, lingering question. There’s a photo of her donning a Vikings jersey, wearing face paint, and apparently going just as berserk.

“Fake fan” debunked — and it has its roots in high school football, as outlined by Boston Connor, a contributor to The Pat McAfee Show:

As with so many other conspiracies, it turns out the answer is the most simple. Her son played in a youth football league and was on the Vikings. She gets just as amped for his games as she does for the Chargers. On her appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, she talked about her fandom emotions and called herself a “crazy mom of four.”

“I wear my heart on my sleeve, I’m intense in everything I do. Football being one of the most intense things I do,” she said.

So there you have it. She’s legit. The Chargers have fans. It’s not absurd to see a non-Dallas Cowboys fan at a Cowboys game.

Now, back to our scheduled viewing of flat Earth photos.

No. 14 Mill Creek takes down No. 6 Buford — but loses to Lakers basketball?

Down goes Buford! Mill Creek wi—we now take you to Lakers preseason basketball.

We interrupt the Lakers-Warriors game to bring you this message:

If there were any doubts about Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.)—ranked No. 14 in the USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25—the question marks should be erased after Friday’s statement win over No. 6 Buford.

Now, it’s an exclamation point; not just in the state of Georgia but in the entire country.

The Hawks played tough all game, on both sides of the ball, with much of the focus on how/if the defense would stop—or at least slow down—the top quarterback in the land, Dylan Raiola.

And while there were consistent flashes of the Georgia commit’s greatness… case and point…

… Mill Creek applied just enough pressure to disrupt the Wolves’ passing attack while also benefiting from more than a few costly drops from Buford receivers.

From there, it was a matter of capitalizing on mistakes as the offense added to its 2023 highlight reel, including this one-handed grab from Trajean Greco.

“That guy” was all of us on that play.

And the fourth quarter didn’t disappoint, with Mill Creek converting a 4th down before Shane Throgmartin connected on a 21-yard strike to Justin Content for a touchdown to take the lead 31-24.

That put the ball back in the hands of Raiola and the Buford offense with 1:30 left in the game.

Yes!

Yes?

What?

It ended 31-24, with most people learning how the final seconds played out as they looked to see if Jack Nicholson was sitting courtside in his usual seats after the broadcast was launched into the App Cosmos in favor of Lakers preseason basketball.

From what I could tell, Jack wasn’t there. It’s preseason basketball.

But I digress — back to this incredible high school football game.

The win now catapults Mill Creek into serious top 10 consideration in next week’s Super 25 and, in the name of state supremacy and bragging rights, puts the Hawks atop the competitive 8-AAAAAAA Georgia standings.

Buford is by far out of the race, though. Especially not when you have a talent like Dylan Raiola running the offense.

Opinion Poll: A new No.1? Bishop Gorman makes strong case after win over Centennial

The Gaels are the real deal, and backed it up tonight.

Let the arguments…commence.

Vegas power Bishop Gorman only needed to hold off an impressive comeback by Mater Dei in early 2022 to make a strong case for the top spot in the final Super 25 rankings.

Instead, the championship nod went to St. John Bosco (Calif.). Although the Braves lost to Mater Dei, they did manage to flip the script on the Monarchs at the Rose Bowl later in the year.

Meanwhile, the Gaels continued to steamroll teams, ending 2022 with one loss. The same as Mater Dei. The same as St. John Bosco.

That left the simple argument at the season’s end—one that was by no means a new area on the national stage—and included the scenario of three one-loss teams that could easily make a case for overall supremacy.

Add in the seasons of Central (Miami, Fla.) and Duncanville (Texas) and voila: you’re trying to solve a puzzle that would make even Pat Sajak shake his head and drop the mic.

(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

And here we are again. Again.

The 2023 opening Super 25 rankings have featured all three teams at the top, with Mater Dei currently at No. 1, followed by Bishop Gorman and then St. John Bosco.

All three are impressive — offense, defense, recruits, the works.

Unlike last season, however, we won’t benefit from any direct data (actual games) to decide what’s what between the top Vegas team and the two top California teams.

Sure, we’ll have the CIF battle on October 13 between the Braves and the Monarchs. But it’ll be hard to toss out the loser of the game from the trio, because, well, See: 2022.

To that, all the SoCal outcome will really create is a subjective whirlwind of opinions that echo over state lines, where there’s zero chance Team X could beat Team Y. And vice versa.

The proof?

Pat, I’d like to buy a vowel, please.

(Errrgh!)

So, where does that currently leave the HS football collective?

Right now? Corona, California. That’s where.

Centennial, currently ranked 15 in the Super 25, is the only team to play any of the top three.

In the matchup against Mater Dei to open the year, the Huskies lost a tough one at home 28-14.

On the road tonight, the Huskies—marred by the turnover bug, at times— lost to Gorman 56-28.

Those two games are the only evidence—in my opinion—we have so far to determine even an inkling of the best of the best.

Mater Dei looked solid, teetering on dynamic here and there.

Gorman looked solid, teetering on dynamic as well, and won by a larger point differential.

So, you tell me…

[polldaddy poll=12738007]

We’re all Eagles fans: Marjory Stoneman Douglas baseball team’s third straight state championship is an all-time inspirational feat

Fly. Eagles. Fly.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas baseball team took home another state title, the Eagles’ third straight, which is an incredible accomplishment in any part of the U.S., but more so when considering the stacked lineups they face in a highly competitive South Florida area.

In the time it took to read that sentence, however, some—if not all—most likely lost the magnitude of the accomplishment because their mind echoed something along the lines of “Parkland shooting.”

(USA TODAY Network)

There’s something off-putting about even bringing up such a tragedy and allowing it to share the national spotlight with a championship run that included an undefeated season, a first since 2017 in the Sunshine State and a first in South Florida history. Yes, history.

But not to mention what took place back on February 18, 2018, where 17 people were murdered at the hands of a gunman, ignores the larger storyline: Freshman, seniors and everyone in between on the Eagles 2023 roster and in the Parkland community are only five years removed from the deadliest mass shooting at a high school ever—a stat that now exists and runs on the tickers of media outlets in a commonplace manner like it’s part of the latest NYSE.

“No one here really brings it up,” pitcher Christian Rodriguez told the Athletic’s Manny Navarro about that Valentine’s Day in 2018. “It’s just kind of something that lingers.”

To applaud the strength it would take to recover from an event like that—which now lives in the subconscious of the masses as a reminder of the horrors students face daily—is something that should bring everyone to their feet. A standing-O.

Then, another standing-O…

And so on.

And while the inspiring tale would be perfectly acceptable had the final chapter quietly ended with a learning lesson about progressions and just putting on the cleats and giving it your all in between the lines, the Eagles baseball team hasn’t just shown up to the ballpark; they’ve dismantled teams over the past few years, compiling an 87-5 record, including 51 straight wins.

They’ve ended the year as the No. 1 team the country and as national champs during that span.

In 2023, the Eagles hit 35 home runs. That’s two more runs than the pitching staff surrendered all year (33). Comebacks? They didn’t trail past the third inning in any game this season.

And when it came time to close out this current run, the team delivered, picking up that third state title.

Impressive? Perhaps just a case of having top-tier talent?

As Ted Williams famously told The New York Times: “I’ve always said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.”

To excel at that while bringing inspiration and positivity to a community and beyond is harder.

Arch Manning lost his student ID … twice

The Texas Longhorns QB is already taking part in the time-honored freshmen tradition.

Arch Manning has been a central focus of high school football for the past several years, with the talented quarterback creating a national buzz about possible NCAA landing spots while he racked up records at Isidore Newman (La.) —ones previously held by uncles Eli and Peyton.

But that’s all in the rearview as the top-rated recruit from the class of 2023 landed in Austin to begin his college journey at the University of Texas.

Now, Archibald C. Manning is a college kid. Five-star player-caller, sure. But behind the mask, he’s simply a face on the campus. Like others, he’s getting acclimated to the rush of new experiences, joining a directionally flummoxed crowd of freshmen as he meanders through the campus.

And, apparently, he’s losing stuff, most notably his student ID—a classic college move entwined in a storied tradition that’s as common as losing socks in the dryer.

Of course, when you’re part of the Manning Tree—and possibly the QB1 who will bring the Longhorns back to national glory—there will be tweets.

As expected, the fumble jokes and QB-related breakdowns were aplenty. But this one stood out among the pack:

And if you lose your student ID more than once…

 

Iconic gaffe by Manning. Legendary.

Will Arch go for a Three-Peat?

Bishop Gorman vs. Chaminade-Madonna creates the perfect year-end storyline

Just in time for the final Super 25

How do you really know?

More often than not, that question seeps into the conversation when looking over the country’s top high school football programs. Where one team’s dominance might be impressive, enough to land them in the upper echelon of nationally ranked teams, but the reality of the high school football schedule leaves much of the placement to hypotheticals. 

That’s to say, the No. 5 team is excellent, maybe as great as the No. 4 team… but they don’t play, so — what?

Time after time, the collection of answers is nothing more than subjective zigzagging, a typical progression based on the state, the recruits, what “they” think, and ultimately, a cascade of wishful thinking—What if Team A did play Team B?

The 2022 version of that thought process has a handful of examples, but also introduces one of the more intriguing outliers as the season nears an end: No. 3 Bishop Gorman (Nev.) vs. No. 6 Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.).

(USA TODAY Network)

Gorman has bulldozed teams all season. The Gaels have scored over 800 points while allowing less than 80. That’s a wild stat. In any state. In any division. With or without a roster that features players with four or five stars attached to their names.

The team’s lone loss this year? An epic battle against Mater Dei (Calif.), the perennial power that was the No. 1 team in the USA TODAY Sports Super 25 at the time. Even though it was only late August, the game ended as one of the best of 2022, with the Monarchs overcoming a 7-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win on a game-ending field goal, 24-21.

The outcome set the tone for much of the early action. And until St. John Bosco (Calif.) won its revenge game against Mater Dei at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Nov. 25, it set the order for the top teams in the country.

Since then, the “wishful thinking” has been simple—it would be incredible to see St. John Bosco line up against Bishop Gorman.

That’s not happening.

But not all is lost.

Enter the Lions out of the Sunshine State…

(Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports)

Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.) has been equally impressive, stingy on defense and powerful on offense. The Lions have navigated the tough Florida high school football calendar with a perfect 13-0 record that included wins over Northwestern (Fla.), Cardinal Newman (Fla.), No. 10 American Heritage (Fla.), plus the 1M state title. They also defeated St. John’s (D.C.).

Tops in the land, worthy of a top 3 or better, ahead of Gorman? In most circumstances, we’d look at such juggernauts with geographical perplexity, pointing to the different corners of the country as we rehash the aforementioned back-and-forth.

Saturday’s GEICO State Champions Bowl Series will help resolve some of that typical gray area. To some degree, so will the American Heritage-Central (Fla.) and the Duncanville-North Shore (Texas) outcomes.

And while the final scoreboard might not create a dynamic shift in the year-end USA TODAY Super 25, it’s not to say that it won’t either.

But now I’m just being hypothetical.