Gage Baker, Josh Ringer, Alvin Henderson closing in on state, national records.
The high school football team at
Phoebus (Hampton) made headlines last week when it defeated Jamestown 104-0 in a Virginia state playoff game. While the wide margin of victory raised concerns about mismatched first-round playoff opponents and sportsmanship, the contest is not the first postseason game in history with one team scoring over 100 points, nor is it the most lopsided.
The first 100-point postseason blowout came in 1902 when
Hyde Park (Chicago, Ill.) hosted
Poly Prep Country Day (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in a game that aimed to establish a national champion.
The game was not much of a contest, however, as Hyde Park won 105-0 on 18 touchdowns and 15 extra points (touchdowns were five points each at the time).
Ten years later,
Boise met
Twin Falls for the Southern Idaho championship. The advance on the game noted that Boise was the defending state champion but that Twin Falls had "cleaned up everything in the southeast and has done it with an ease that stamps it as a foeman worthy of Boise's steel."
That prediction proved to be incorrect as Boise won the championship game 113-6.
Phoebus gained national headlines last week after winning a playoff game 104-0. But the Phantoms also deserve praise for having one of the nation's stingiest defenses, allowing a total of 10 points all season. (Photo: Dan Trevino)
In 1914, Raleigh (closed in 1929) crushed
Asheville 117-0 for the North Carolina state championship. In 1920,
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) took on now-defunct Phoenix Union (Ariz.) for bragging rights in the America Southwest Championship. The Jackrabbits ran away from the Coyotes in this one 102-0. That same year,
San Diego (Calif.) whipped
Army-Navy (Carlsbad, Calif.) for the San Diego County championship, 130-7.
In 1925,
Waco blew out
Brady 122-0 in a bi-district playoff opener in Texas. Waco went on to win the state championship that year. Two years later, Waco opened the playoffs with a 124-0 win over Houston Jeff Davis en route to being crowned national champions for 1927 by National Sports News Service.
Sandwiched in between Waco's two lopsided wins,
Tyler defeated
Palestine (Texas) 111-0 in a district playoff game.
While most of the playoff blowouts happened nearly a century ago when 100-point outings were fairly common, Phoebus' big win is not the only recent 100-point outing. In 2019,
Riggs (Pierre) knocked off
Spearfish 103-0 in the quarterfinals of the South Dakota 11AA playoffs.
* * *
If Paradise Honors can advance to the state final, Baker has a chance to break the national record of 91 touchdown passes in a season, which is held by Jake Browning of
Folsom (Calif.) in 2014 and Corey Robinson of
Lone Oak (Paducah, Ky.) in 2007. Baker's 75 touchdowns ranks No. 8, in a tie with Browning in 2013.
Meanwhile,
Josh Ringer of
East Central (St. Leon, Ind.) has an outside chance of breaking the state record for touchdowns, currently held by Charlie Spegal of
New Palestine with 70. Ringer has 55 total touchdowns with potentially two more games to play. Coincidentally, the Trojans face Spegal's alma mater New Palestine in the Class 4A semifinals.
Then there's the national single-season receiving touchdown record that could fall tonight when
Ingleside (Texas) takes on Bandera in the second round of the Class 4A Division 2 playoffs.
Jaydon Smith has 35 touchdown receptions and needs four to tie Tren'Davian Dickson of
Navasota (Texas) and Chris Nessmith of New Life (Milford, Ala.) for the national record with 39. He has scored at least four touchdowns in a game four times this year with a high of five.
In Alabama,
Alvin Henderson of
Elba is closing in on the state record for touchdowns and points in a season. He has 54 touchdowns and 324 points, putting him within shooting distance of Lee Witherspoon's state records of 59 touchdowns and 354 points. Elba (11-0) plays Millry in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs.
Henderson, a junior, has 126 career touchdowns, 756 career points and 6,289 rushing yards. He has a chance next year to break the career state records of 160 touchdowns and 960 points by Terrance Wilks of
Wadley (2003-06) and 9,839 rushing yards by Mac Campbell of
Alexandria (1993-97).
* * *
Jim Benkert of
Simi Valley (Calif.) became the ninth coach in the nation to go over 300 wins this year as his Pioneers defeated Crean Lutheran 27-7 win the second round of the Southern Section Division 6 playoffs. With stints at Westlake, Oaks Christian and now Simi Valley, Benkert has a career record of 300-114-1.
Others who have gone over 300 wins this year include Tim Goodwin of
Marion Local (Maria Stein, Ohio), Fred Simon of
Bluefield (Bluefield, W. Va.), Reed May of
Brownstown Central (Ind.), Jack Martinelli of
Foxborough (Mass.), Joe Medina of
Cascia Hall (Tulsa, Okla.), Larry Hill of
Smithson Valley (Spring Branch, Texas), Bob Sphires of
Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.) and Alan Lowry of
Columbine (Littleton, Colo.).
