Katy (Texas) finished the regular season 10-0,
marking the 20th straight season the Tigers have won at least 10 games.
The run is believed to be the longest active streak in high school football. The undefeated
regular season is also the 17th for Katy and ranks as
the sixth-highest total in state history according to
texashighschoolfootballhistory.com.
Refugio (Texas), which also went
undefeated in the regular season, holds the most undefeated regular
seasons in state history with 24.
Southlake Carroll (Texas) also went unbeaten
in the regular season for the 18th time, which puts it in a three-way
tie for third with Celina and Cuero.
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) has 27 unbeaten regular seasons and had 20 consecutive 10-win
seasons between 1984 and 2003.
Lawrence (Kan.) is believed to have the
most undefeated regular seasons with 31.
Katy earned its 20th straight 10-win season this year, believed to be the longest active streak in the nation.
Photo by Mark Goodman
There
was some confusion in Virginia when
Riverheads (Staunton, Va.) picked up its 45th
straight win to supposedly tie Phoebus (Hampton) for the state record
for consecutive. The confusion was understandable considering that the
VHSL state record book lists Phoebus with the state record of 45
consecutive wins between 2008 and 2010.
However, Phoebus didn't
have 45 straight wins, it had 52 in a row. Besides three straight
seasons of 15 wins, Phoebus also won the first seven games of the 2011
season before losing to Woodside. The VHSL recently confirmed that
Phoebus's record was 52 in a row, not 45.
Riverheads won its 46th
in a row last week with a 35-13 win over Stuart's Draft. Even if
Riverheads runs the table, it will not be able to pass Phoebus this
season as the Virginia post season has only five rounds. The 46 straight
wins is tied with Bixby (Okla.) for the second longest active streak in
the nation. Kirtland (Ohio) has the longest active streak at 52 in a
row.
Prolific Florida passer was eighth-grade sensation
Luca Stanzani of
Clearwater Academy International (Clearwater, Fla.) recently concluded his five-year career with the Knights as the third all-time leading passer in the state of Florida, but it's what he did as an eighth-grade starter that stands out.
Stanzani threw for 11,361 yards in his career to place him behind Tucker Israel of Lake Nona (Orlando), the state's all-time leader with 14,082 yards, and DeAndre Johnson of First Coast (Jacksonville), who had 11,697 yards.
Stanzani got his career off to an outstanding start with 3,352 yards as an eighth-grade starter. The total is believed to be a national record for passing yardage by an eighth-grader.
So who are the other national leaders by grade level? Mississippi has a pair while coach Mike Mauk is responsible for the others.
Ty Keyes had his highest yardage total as a freshman while at
Taylorsville (Miss.). He threw for 4,562 yards en route to finishing with 14,565 yards.
Keyes finished his career as the No. 2 all-time leading passer in the state behind Myles Brennan of
St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.), who also happens to hold the record for most yards passing as a sophomore. Brennan had the best season of his career as a sophomore, throwing for 5,797 yards.
Mauk has coached a number of quarterbacks in both
Kenton (Ohio) and
Glendale (Springfield, Mo.), including the only two that have thrown for over 6,000 yards in a season. Alex Huston of Glendale threw for 6,131 yards as a junior in 2016 under Mauk.
The other quarterback was Mauk's son Ben, who threw for 6,540 yards as a senior while at Kenton in 2002.
Going for 2
CJ Hester of
Wyoming (Cincinnati) is the leading scorer in the nation in part due to his 18 two-point conversion to go along with 40 touchdowns. However, Hester still has a ways to go before he threatens the national record.
When it comes to two-point conversions,
Smyrna's Will Knight was the king. The Delaware running back, who graduated in 2018, scored 51 two-point conversions during his sophomore season alone. For his career, he had 111 conversion runs to account for nearly 25 percent of his 936 career points.
Smyrna ran its two-point conversion out of a wildcat formation it called "Earthquake." Knight was one of four running backs bunched closely together in the backfield. On the direct snap, Knight simply bulled forward behind 10 blockers for the conversion.
Bayside Academy, Silo rack up more championships
We take a break from football fun facts to offer up some volleyball and baseball kudos. Ann Schilling led
Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.) to an Alabama Class 5A state volleyball championship, extending the school's national record of 20 straight state championships in the sport. Schilling ranks No. 3 on the all-time volleyball wins list with 1,632 career wins after a 57-6 season.
Schilling ranks behind Jodi Manore of Bedford (Temperance), who has 2,177 wins, and Barbara Campbell of Brentwood (Tenn.) with 1,765. Schilling also has 27 overall volleyball state championships.
Billy Jack Bowen of
Silo (Okla.), meanwhile, captured the fall baseball championship in Oklahoma for his 21st state championship. Bowen, the nation's all-time baseball wins leader for fall and spring seasons combined with 2,161 wins, has also won four straight spring state championships and will look to add a fifth in 2022.
