Sunday will mark the third time that
Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs will meet in the postseason.
Mahomes, who hails from
Whitehouse (Texas), won both previous meetings. But Allen, from
Firebaugh (Calif.), has home field advantage for the first time.
Both were three-sport stars in high school, competing in football, basketball and baseball. Mahomes earned MaxPreps 2013-14 Male Athlete of the Year and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. Allen was ranked in the top four nationally in Future Farmers of America but had no scholarship offers for football.
Allen's family owned more than 1,200 acres of farmland and in 1976 donated the land that Firebaugh High School was built on.
About 35 years later, Allen arrived at the school and helped raise a Central Section banner. In baseball. The 6-foot-5, 238-pounder was a machine who hit .352 with 24 extra-base hits and 75 RBI in his career. On the mound the Bills gunslinger recorded a 1.82 earned run average his senior year and had more strikeouts than innings pitched.
Patrick Mahomes was named MaxPreps 2013-14 Male Athlete of the Year after starring in football, baseball and basketball. (Photo: Kyle Dantzler)
These two quarterbacks have had epic battles in the NFL and may have had some amazing games on the diamond if they played. Mahomes could throw 93 miles per hour and once threw a 16 strikeout no-hitter. In the batter's box he was equally dominant, notching a .450 batting average.
On the basketball court both led their squads to the postseason. Mahomes averaged 20 points a game and even scored 49 in a playoff game.
As the starting quarterback at Whitehouse, Mahomes chucked 50 touchdowns through the air as a senior while rushing for 15 more. He also served as the Wildcats punter where he averaged 38.7 yards per punt and even had a 71-yard boot.
Before he started at quarterback, he played defense as a sophomore and had 33 tackles and five interceptions.
The final football game of Mahomes high school career took place in the third round of the playoffs. In a 65-60 shootout loss to Poteet (Mesquite), the senior put up 664 total yards, threw for five touchdowns and ran for two more.
Mahomes ended his career as a three-star recruit by
247Sports.
Allen helped lead Firebaugh to the second round of the playoffs as a junior while throwing for 2,207 yards and 26 touchdowns. As a senior he eclipsed 3,000 passing yards while increasing his touchdowns to 33. The Eagles reached the Central Section semifinals and won 10 games.
Today, Allen is known for escaping the pocket and barreling over defenders downfield. He showed flashes of that in high school, rushing for 407 yards as a senior with four touchdowns.
The previous two times these two quarterbacks faced off in the postseason, Allen had six touchdown passes and one interception. Mahomes has six touchdown throws, a rushing score and no interceptions.
