Top 10 Fall prep stories of 2010

10. Leaving their marks

Just some coach prep legends who announced retirements included:

* Ken Netherland of St. George's (Collierville, Tenn.) has retired at age 71 as the winningest coach in Tennessee history with 362 victories.

* Phillipsburg (N.J.) coach Bob Stem has retired at age 71 with a 285-98-6 record and two state championships during his 34-year career.

* Lexington (Mass.) head football coach Bill Tighe retired following a 14-0 victory over Burlington (Mass.). A head coach since 1957, Tighe is 86 years young.

* Pat O'Neil retired as head baseball coach at Brownsburg (Ind.). O'Neil compiled a 332-101 record and after two state runner-up finishes, piloted the Bulldogs to a perfect 35-0 record and the large-school state championship in 2005.

* Montini (Lombard, Ill.) wrestling coach Mike Bukovsky retired following a brilliant career during which he compiled a 460-39 record with eight state titles. He also coached 32 individual state champs.

{PAGEBREAK} 9. Female coach firestorm

Natalie Randolph probably didn't know the media frenzy she would face after being hired as the football coach at Coolidge (Washington, D.C.) last spring. She is believed to be the first female head coach at a major high school program, which drew media requests from the New York Times, HBO and ESPN, among others, during the week of Coolidge's first game, a 28-0 loss to Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.). Coolidge went on to finish 4-7.

Jon Buzby's story on Coach Randolph's first career win.{PAGEBREAK}8. Order from the courts

East St. Louis (Ill.), Kahuku (Hawaii) and South Charleston (W. Va.) were all ousted from its respective state playoffs by court order.

East St. Louis was bounced from the Class 7A playoffs after it was ruled a star college-bound defensive lineman was recruited. Likewise, the Oahu Interscholastic Association ruled Kahuku (10-0 on the field) used an ineligible player and was banned from the playoffs.



In one of the most convoluted decisions surrounding a state championship football game in memory, Martinsburg (W. Va.) had wait an extra week just to find out who it was playing in a West Virginia title game. The Bulldogs thought it was South Charleston, but it had used four players who were supposed to be suspended, in a 29-28 semifinal win over Brooke (Wellsburg). 

South Charleston eventually had to forfeit the win, Brooke played in the championship but lost to Martinsburg 30-0.{PAGEBREAK} 7. Quarterback central

It's hard to imagine any season filled with more footballs in the air, completions and touchdowns. Record-setting and breakout seasons by Maty Mauk (Kenton, Ohio), Justin Worley (Northwestern, Rock Hill, SC), Dano Graves (Folsom, Calif.) and Quentin Williams (Jefferson, Tampa, Fla.) were just the tip of the iceberg for quarterbacks throughout the land.

Mauk threw for a national best 5,670 yards and 69 touchdowns in just 13 games, while Worley, the Gatorade Player of the Year, passed for 5,313 yards and 64 touchdowns while leading Northwestern to a state crown.

Williams threw for 53 touchdowns and just six interceptions and Graves accounted for a California state record 85 touchdowns while leading Folsom to a surprising state bowl title.

According to the Tampa Tribune, Williams finished his brilliant career with four state records: career passing yards (10,384), career touchdown passes (109), single-season passing yards (4,451) and single-season touchdown passes (56). Williams also led his team to an unbeaten season and the Class 3A state title – its first in any team sport. The team also set a state record by scoring 746 points.

After being humbled in its season opener on national television, losing 49-14 to Grant-Sacramento, Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) rattled off 14 straight wins behind its super hero quarterback Dano Graves. Standing barely 5-foot-9, the Doug Flutie clone set a California state record by accounting for 85 touchdowns, including six each in a 48-20 CIF State Division II Bowl championship win over then 18th-ranked Serra-Gardena two weeks after avenging its only defeat, beating then fourth-ranked Grant 41-20 in the Sac-Joaquin Section title game before 20,200 fans at Sacramento State University. Graves completed 236 of 363 passes for 3,702 yards and 62 touchdowns and rushed 165 times for 996 yards and 23 more scores. Folsom finished No. 7 in the country.

More QBs on the loose:



* Though Johnny Manziel wasn't quite among the national leaders at Tivy (Kerryville, Texas), he is considered one of the greatest playmakers in the history of hallowed Texas prep football.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound quarterback has put up some amazing numbers during his brillant three-year career, completing 520 of 819 passes (63.5 percent) for 7,626 yards and 76 touchdowns. He also has rushed 531 times for 4,045 yards and 77 touchdowns. In addition, he has caught 30 passes for 582 yards and another five touchdowns.

* Everyone better watch for Max Browne (Skyline, Sammamish Wash.), only a sophomore. He threw for 4,182 yards and 50 touchdowns.

* Wilcox County (Rochelle, Ga.) lost its playoff game to Wesleyan (Norcross, Ga.), 45-28, but senior quarterback Nick Marshall finished his career with a state-record 103 touchdown passes.

* Western Pennsylvania is known for its quarterbacks and according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, senior quarterback Christian Brumbaugh put his name in the record book at least four times while guiding South Fayette (McDonald, Pa.) to a 49-12 rout of Forest Hills (Sidman, Pa.) during the Class AA state semifinals.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder completed 21 of 31 passes for 362 yards to set a western Pennsylvania record with 7,052 career passing yards. He also broke the WPIAL record for one season with 3,615 yards. On a state-wide basis, he set a playoff record with six touchdown passes in a single game and tied the single-season record with 50 touchdown passes.

Forest Hills coach Don Bailey told the Post-Gazette, "That's probably the best passing attack I've seen in my 37 years as a head coach."



Brumbaugh, who has committed to William & Mary, led his undefeated Lions into the state title game on Saturday against West Catholic (Philadelphia). The Lions (15-1) lost 50-14 in the state finals and Brumbagh was 11 of 28 for 111 yards, finishing with 7,163 career yards and 3,726 yards for the season.

See the entire national leader board here.{PAGEBREAK} 6. Northern Golden State swing

After Northern California teams lost 12 of the first 16 games in the California State Bowl football championships since its inception in 2006, the Southern stranglehold seemed right in place when The Bishop's School (San Diego) opened the 2010 games with a 40-14 victory over Brookside Christian (Stockton). But as the weather turned soggy at the Home Depot Center in Carson so turned the tide northward. The North won then next four games - all in convincing fashion over favored schools, the biggest upset being unranked Palo Alto defeating then fifth-ranked Centennial (Corona) 15-13 and the biggest stunner, De La Salle (Concord) absolutely manhandling then fourth-ranked Servite (Anaheim) 48-8 in the finale. Escalon (Division III) and Folsom (Division I) were other big winners from the North.

 
Like football, Southern California has had a stranglehold on volleyball state championships. But like football in 2010, the swing quite literally went North which took four of the five matches at San Jose State University. The biggest upset finished off the day with then unranked Palo Alto pulling out a wild five-game Division I match over then 11th-ranked Long Beach Poly 25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 11-25 and 17-15. The other signature victory came at Division III where Campolindo (Moraga) pulled out a 27-25, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 15-10 win over two-time defending champion Cathedral Catholic (San Diego). St. Francis (Mountain View) won its record ninth state title at Division II, Branson (Ross) won its second straight title at Division V as did Southern California's only victor La Jolla Country Day at Division IV.
{PAGEBREAK}5. Winning streaks continue

West Rowan (Mt. Ulla, N.C.), Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), Alcoa (Tenn.), Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) and Mullen (Denver, Colo.) all continued long football win streaks with championship seasons.

West Rowan won its national-best 46 straight game with a 34-7 win over Eastern Alamance (Mebane) for the Class 3-A state championship as Dinkin Miller ran for 211 yards on 22 carries and its defense gave up minus-one yard of offense in the second half.

Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), ranked No. 10 in the final Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard, made it three consecutive Group AAA Division 5 state titles and 45 straight wins overall with a 36-17 win over Stone Bridge. Senior tailback Tyree Lee rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and Breon Key had an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:01 left in the game.

Alcoa (Tenn.) won its seventh straight and 12th Tennessee 3A title with a 56-14 win over Goodpasture Christian. Led by All-State performers Taharin Tyson, Steven Isom, J.T. Rankin, Derek Evans, Darrell Warren and Tustin Tallant, Alcoa has won 43 straight games.

Hamilton won its 40th straight game and third straight Arizona 5A Division I crown with a 21-13 win over Desert Ridge (Mesa) at University of Phoenix Stadium. Hamilton, which finished No. 21 in the final MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, became the first large division school to win three straight crowns.

Mullen routed previously unbeaten Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.), 37-6, before a crowd of 15,257 to win its third consecutive Class 5A state title and extend its winning streak to 33 games. The Mustangs outscored their 14 opponents by a huge 517-89 margin and are being viewed as one of the state's best-ever teams.



Then there is Butler, with a 31-game win streak of its own. Butler (Matthews, N.C.) won its second straight 4-AA championship season in convincing fashion with a 44-0 win over Wake Forest (Rolesville) in the championship game. The Bulldogs (16-0) forced six turnovers and MVP Jahwan Edwards ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

Butler finished 16-0 and No. 17 in the final MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, which didn't seem likely after National Junior of the Year Christian LeMay, a Georgia-bound quarterback who threw for 3,291 yards, 44 TDs and just two INTs last year, decided to sit out the 2010 season — as did 1,500-yard rusher Ron Howard.

Then during the season, star running back Deion Walker (23 TDs) left the team after being involved in a fatal accident, and a standout linebacker was forced to miss a month after being charged with a serious crime (he has since been cleared).

"It's been a wild ride for us the whole season, and this just tops it off," Bulldogs coach Mike Newsome told MaxPreps correspondent Harold Gutmann after the game. "It's so much sweeter to watch these kids go through the adversity we had to go through, and have those guys in our hearts that aren't with us today.

"A lot of people could have folded the tent a long time ago, and these guys stuck with it and stepped up when they needed to step up. They're just resilient. They're going to learn important life lessons having to go through all this stuff, and I hope that's what we're teaching them more than just winning championships."{PAGEBREAK}4. Pearland equals Disneyland

Compared to the large and rather ominous credentials of the nation's top-ranked team Trinity (Euless, Texas), upstart Pearland appeared something out of a Disney production. The Oilers had never been to a Texas 5A Division I title game and after a stunning upset over Katy the previous week, their magical season seemed destined to go poof. But Dustin Garrison rushed for 121 yards and three scores and Trey Anderson completed 17 of 23 for 202 yards and another TD in a stunning 28-24 victory, snapping Trinity's 28-game win streak before more than 43,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium. Pearland was No. 5 and Trinity No. 11 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 final rankings.

Also in Texas, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) became just the third school in the storied Texas state history to win a fourth state football title in a row with a 27-7 triumph over Ryan in the 4A Division I game before more than 20,000 fans at Texas Stadium. Where the previous three titles were won with a high powered offense, this one belong to the defense, which didn't allow a first down until the third quarter. Texas Tech commit Michael Brewer threw for 211 yards and rushed for 81 more and two scores for Lake Travis, which joined Sealy (3A, 1994 to 1997) and Celina (2A, 1998 to 2001) as the others to win four straight UIL championships.

{PAGEBREAK}3. South Panola, St. Thomas Aquinas battle for No. 1

South Panola (Batesville, Miss.), one of the country's most dominant programs over the last decade, added one more notch to its belt: national champion. The Tigers, who finished 15-0 and captured Mississippi's 6A state title, posted eye-popping statistics on both sides of the ball en route to finishing No. 1 in the Xcellent 25 Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

Loaded with star power and groomed by excellent coaching, South Panola allowed more than one touchdown in only four games this year. They averaged more than 45 points per game on offense. Running back Qyendairs Griffin gave the Tigers a powerful threat running the ball, while Marcus Henry and Nickolas Brassell helped stretch defenses at wide receiver.

Hit hard by graduation and harder by a stinging upset loss in the state semifinals the season before, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) completed a perfect 15-0 season with an impressive 29-7 victory over defending state champion Plant (Tampa) to claim the Class 5A championship trophy for the third time in four years and the sixth in the program's history.

The win also capped a remarkable four-year run in which the Raiders, which finished No. 2 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, boasted a 52-1 record, the lone loss coming last year against Manatee (Bradenton) in the state semifinals.

{PAGEBREAK}2. Holland's inspirational opus

Not only did virtually every media outlet in the country pick up the inspirational crawl of University (San Francisco, Calif.) junior cross country runner Holland Reynolds at the state meet in Clovis, but Hollywood screenwriters called her family as well. Dehydration and hyperthermia caused Reynolds to fall 10 meters short of the finish, but inspired by her ailing coach Jim Tracy, recently diagnosed with ALS, and a chance to win him a record state title, Reynolds crawled to the finish line before whisked away to an ambulance where she made a full recovery. University won its record eighth state crown. Story.

{PAGEBREAK}1. Tragedies on the field

Along with the numerous triumphant performances on the football field during the fall, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of tragedy. Among them:

* Lewisville (Richburg, S.C.) running back Brian Colvin collapsed on the field during a Chester County jamboree in August and died later that evening. Heart disease is what killed Brian, tests revealed later.

* In Sept., Kody Turner, 16, a junior lineman at Chickasha (Okla.) died two days after collapsing at practice due to heat stroke. His core body temperature at practice was reported to be 108 degrees. He was eventually airlifted to OU Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City, where he died two days later. Story.

* The same week Kody perished, in Orange, Texas, West Orange-Stark senior quarterback Reggie Garrett collapsed after throwing his second touchdown in the second quarter of a game against Jasper. Reports say Garrett might have taken a blow to the head. He reached the sideline but then had a seizure and was rushed by medics already at the game to the hospital, where he died an hour later.

* Also in Sept., Trevor Roberts from McLouth (McLouth, Kan.) had part of his leg amputated following a compound fracture in his left leg sustain in a game against Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.). The senior receiver broke his tibia and fibula after registering 193 total yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He had surgery the night of the game, but later the wound became infected and was gangrenous, requiring partial amputation. Story.

* Nathan Stiles, a football star, scholar athlete and Homecoming King at Spring Hill (Kan.), died following a 99-72 victory over Osawatomie (Kan.) on Oct. 29. Stiles was hit hard after intercepting a pass in the second quarter and left the game. He already had run for touchdowns of 65 and 18 yards. Spring Hill coach Anthony Orrick told the Miami County Republic that Stiles complained of head pain before he collapsed on the sideline. He was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City where he died approximately eight hours later. Story.

Over-heating and concussion issues have been at the heart of many of the tragedies and have been addressed at local, state and national levels. The game's largest league - the NFL - has taken strides, hoping its effect will trickle down to the prep level. Story.

However, not all on-field emergencies turned tragic this year. Thanks to some quick work by a cardiac nurse, Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) running back Hayward Demison (6-1, 190) is still alive. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior ran for a go-ahead 45-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter of 28-24 win over Canby (Ore.). on Sept. 10 then sustained a heart attack.  According to a report in the Oregonian, Demison had been diagnosed with athletic asthma two years earlier, but when he called for his inhaler after the touchdown it didn't help and he suddenly stopped breathing.

Nurse Lisa Lyver came out of the stands and administered CPR to revive the unconscious teenager who had not been breathing for two minutes.



“I’m just happy to be alive,” Demison told the Oregonian while resting at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. “The person that gave me CPR saved my life. I’m very thankful. I’m truly blessed. It was a close call.”

Demison is expected to be fully recovered in six months and hopes to play football again next year as a senior. Story.