Maty Mauk on verge of breaking brother's most coveted national passing record

To watch Maty Mauk of Kenton (Ohio) topple one national passing record after another, one would think that football was his life growing up in a family with a father-coach and an older brother who was setting records of his own.

Definitely not so, say his father, Mike Mauk, and older brother, Ben Mauk, now in year No. 3 as his quarterback coach.

"When he was little (first through third grades), we had a football camp," Ben recalled. "I was so frustrated that he and another kid were picking dandelions and missing the drills."

Now Maty, a University of Missouri commit, is picking off all of his older brother's national marks - three so far - and likely two more on Friday.

Dad didn't see that coming when Maty was picking flowers instead of throwing the pigskin. He called his youngest son a free spirit. "He just liked being a kid," Mike said. "We didn't know if he was going to be a football player or not."

Maty points to Ben's junior year, when the Wildcats won their first state championship, as a time that he really began to get enthused about football. Another title and a runner-up finish were clinchers. Maty, however, still seeks his first state title.

Even though Kenton never before had won the state, Ben showed surprising confidence when he told his teammates not to order class rings when they were freshmen, because they were going to get state-title rings.

"My dad let the seniors design them," Ben said. "We wore them for a week and put them away."

Maty and Ben are about the same size, but Maty has better speed.

Ben broke his leg as a freshman, yet came back to have a spectacular four-year career and finish atop national passing records in several categories. He later played at Wake Forest and Cincinnati before coming home to coach.

Maty, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior, who also is a standout basketball player and placed third last year in the state long jump, is on a national-record roll.

He already has set career records for completions (1,216), touchdown passes (195) and total yards (20,088).

He should break two more career national marks - including passing yardage - on Friday in the regular-season finale at Wapakoneta (Ohio).

Maty needs three completions and 295 yards to break Ben's records of 1,905 and 17,364 to become the best of the best. Considering he averages 27 completions and 378 yards per game this season, those marks should fall easily.

The Wildcats (9-0) run a no-huddle spread offense with five wide receivers and no running backs. Their exciting brand of football draws between 5,000 and 8,000 fans to every home game.

"To be honest, I never thought that would happen," Maty said of his growing list of records. "As we win, I guess that stuff comes with it. Keeping it in the family - definitely. We'll be No. 1 and 2 all-time until someone else comes up."

Passing by osmosis
Ben couldn't be happier that his records are being eclipsed by Maty.

"When he broke the Ohio state record for touchdown passes, I was really excited for him," Ben said. "I'd rather have it be my little brother. Never once have I heard him say anything about breaking records. His records probably will be broken, but if he can win the state championship, that can't be taken away.

"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."

Even though he wasn't hooked on football at a young age, Maty still attended camps, went to practice and just soaked up the sport by osmosis.

"I was always on the sidelines (at games), being able to launch it 40 yards in fourth grade," Maty said. "In fifth grade I became the regular quarterback. That's when we started running the spread in the midgets. It was just fun. We could run the ball and throw the ball and kept everybody guessing."

Mike and Ben both call Maty a natural leader.

"The biggest thing for him is his leadership ability," Ben believes. "Even picking dandelions, that's what everyone else wanted to do. If he goes fishing, probably 15 or 18 other kids want to go fishing with him."

Adds Mike, "He likes kids and gets along with people well."

Maty explained, "My dad always has been a coach and my brother was going to state ("a kid's dream"), so everybody looked up to me. It's pretty much natural and I knew I could do it. I was in eighth grade and was on the sidelines when I really started paying attention and pretty much knew what I was doing."

Once he became totally hooked on football, all he wanted to do was play for his dad and have the luxury of talking football at home and on the field.

Though he started on the varsity as a freshman, Maty received an initial shock when the Wildcats - breaking in 17 new starters - lost their first three games. However, they quickly rebounded with a seven-game winning streak.

Maty had a good sophomore year and began breaking records as a junior.

As the unbeaten Wildcats march toward a possible state title this fall, more records should fall.

Family faith, pride and headphones
Mike Mauk, who became Kenton's head coach at age 25 and has a career record of 197-116, could not be prouder of the four children that he and wife Gywn have raised.

The oldest, Jonathan, also played for his dad and now is the defensive coordinator at North Florida Christian (Tallahassee, Fla.). Sister Eden was a cheerleader and student trainer for football.

Gwyn admits that when she married Mike, "I was not sure what the goalposts were for. I didn't know what I was getting into."

Little did she know then that she'd get hooked.

"The last 10 years I turn on ESPN and think, 'What am I doing?' " said said. "I know more than I ever wanted to know."

So much so, she gives Mike an ear-full about the fact Kenton doesn't have a kicker and it often utilizes the onside kick. "It frustrates me to death," she said. "I'd like to have a set of headphones."

Mike still is embarrassed about the night that he stood up at a football banquet and - noting their upcoming wedding anniversary - said that he wanted to thank Gwyn for 25 wonderful years of football.

Of course, he meant marriage.

"As a father, you want to see your children get along and work together," Mike says. "It's nice to see football (success), but you also want to have very loving, caring relationships at home. The No. 1 goal, in my opinion, is to raise your children to love The Lord. ... And to teach them to be competitors, using their ability that God has given them."

The family's faith has helped them stay grounded and close, Ben said. It always has. He seems more proud of his brother's nature than his passing records.

"Maty is a pretty humble kid," Ben said. "A lot of kids go on dates, but he spends a lot of time with his family."

Uncle Ben
Mike also is quite pleased with the results of Ben serving as quarterback coach for Maty. He noted that in a recent game, Kenton scored twice on fourth-down plays.

"Ben is going to be an outstanding head coach some day," he said. "He has a great mind and communicates well with people."

Being older, Ben was in college while Maty was growing up and admits to feeling more like an uncle than a brother. He admits that sometimes in practice, Maty loses a little focus.

"He takes coaching really well," Ben said. "He's doing everything he can to get better. He's improved his mechanics. He's really honed in on his footwork skills - when he holds the ball, how to elude pressure. His leadership ability is something he always had with him. I couldn't tell you the last time we had an argument."

Said Maty: "I always wanted to be like my brother (Ben) and do what he has done. ... Ben is not only my coach on the field, but I call him my Eye in the Sky (he calls plays from the press box on game nights). Not many people have that. We know each other so well. He was a Division I quarterback. He's usually always right."

Maty has a typical father-son relationship on the field with his dad.

"He will get on me sometimes, but he's just trying to make me better and the team get better," he said.

Maty, who carries a 3.5 grade point average, picked Missouri over Notre Dame, Michigan and Cincinnati. But before he heads for college, Maty has one burning goal.

"I'd do anything for a state title this year," he said. "We have a group of seniors this year. Fifteen are starters. This is what we've been working out for since the seventh grade."