California high school football: State passing, rushing and receiving yardage leaders

By Aaron Williams Sep 27, 2023, 10:00am

Jerrod "Bubba" Smith, Herschel Turner Jr. and Shawn Hart lead offensive yardage categories.

According to statistics submitted to MaxPreps, Jerod "Bubba" Smith of Fowler leads California high school football in passing with 1,791 yards in five games. His totals have climbed each game this season with a 602-yard outing on Sept. 15 win over Parlier. In that game, Smith was 30 of 39 with eight touchdowns to four different receivers. On the season, he's 111 of 171 passing and averages 358 yards per game with 19 touchdowns against three interceptions.

The Golden State's top runner is Herschel Turner Jr. of Mt. Diablo (Concord) with 1,584 yards for the 4-1 Red Devils. The 5-foot-10 senior has done it on only 82 carries this season while finding the end zone 25 times. He's run for more than 260 yards in all five games, starting the season with a 377-yard performance in a 39-28 win over Deer Valley (Antioch) and a 345-yard night last week against Castlemont (Oakland). He's averaging 19.3 yards per carry.

The state's leading receiver is Shawn Irwin of Hart (Newhall), who has 769 yards on 44 catches for his 4-1 squad. The 6-1 senior has topped the 100-yard mark in all five games with three touchdowns on the year. He had a season-high 242 yards receiving on 12 catches in 43-0 win over Fillmore on Sept. 1. His other totals are 169, 150, 108 and 100 yards.