Only six (or is it seven?) runners have held one the sport's most hallowed marks.
When
Myles McLaughlin of
Knox (Ind.) rushed for 372 yards in a 28-21
playoff win over Angola last week, he became the sixth or seventh high school football player in history to hold
the national single-season rushing yardage record.
Yes, we just made a 67 reference. And here's why.
The
single-season rushing record has a long and confusing history. With no
national record book until the late 1970s and some single-season rushing
totals not even reported until decades after the player graduated, it has been difficult to know exactly who has held the record for extended
periods of time. However, MaxPreps has put together a progressive list
of six players – or maybe seven – who have held the single-season rushing
yardage record over the past 100 years.
New single-season rushing yardage leader Myles McLaughlin in action last week during a playoff win over Angola. (PHOTO: Dean Reid)
The
first player documented to have run for over 3,000 yards in a season is
Roberts, who played quarterback at Warren County. In a 10-game season,
McMinnville, as it was known at that time, outscored opponents 416-45.
Roberts scored 41 touchdowns and reportedly had 3,690 yards rushing.
However, that total was not reported during the season and doesn't
appear in any search on Newspapers.com.
Roberts' rushing total is
listed in the National High School Football Record Book by Doug Huff,
published in 2001. Ironically, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic
Association does not list Roberts' single-season mark of 3,690 yards but it does include his career total of 6,730 yards rushing.
It's
possible Roberts' single-season total includes punt and kick return
yardage because in an interview with Vanderbilt University (where
Roberts played in college), a 92-year old Roberts recounted that he had a
lot of long kick returns. However, it's not known if those returns are
figured into his rushing totals. So for now, Roberts is the first player
to hold the record for single-season rushing yards.
The reason
we start with Roberts is because we don't have accurate totals priors to
1928. We know that John "Booty" Johnson of
Waco (Texas) rushed for
1,948 yards in 1922, but it's possible that Cully Berndt of
Waite (Toledo, Ohio) ran for much more than that in 1921 considering he scored 333
points. There is also Albert "Big Sleepy" Glenn (everybody had a nickname
back then), who scored 359 points for
Elkins (W.Va.) in 1922. Rushing
totals for both Berndt and Glenn are unavailable.
4,045 yards — Ken Hall, Sugar Land (Texas), 1953
Hall
became the second player to hold the single-season rushing yardage
record but there was no fanfare in newspapers and no mention of Hall holding the record for 25 years because no one knew of the mark established by Roberts.
Listed
by the NFHS Record Book as the record
holder when the book was first released in the late 1970s, Hall's total
went unknown for almost 20 years. His total isn't listed in any
newspaper during the 1950s other than estimates of his season and career
totals. The 4,045 yardage total came to light in the early 1970s when
Bill McMurray of the Houston Chronicle compiled the first Texas high
school football record book.
Although Hall's marks were unknown until the 1970s, he actually held the record for 43 years.
4,087 yards — Travis Henry, Frostproof (Fla.), 1996
By
1996, Hall's record of 4,045 had been well documented in the record
books for over 25 years. After rushing for 436 yards in the final game
of the regular season against Fort Meade, Henry had 2,987 yards to break
the Florida state record of 2,969 yards by Willie McClendon of
University Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.). That still put Henry 1,058 yards
away from tying Hall and there was no way of knowing how far Frostproof
would go in the playoffs.
Henry had over 200 yards rushing in the
next three playoff games, including a 273-yard effort against
Pahokee that gave him his 13th straight 200-yard game. The Florida Sun-Sentinel ran
a story speculating that Henry might break the record with a headline
stating "Frostproof back has shot at rushing mark."
Frostproof lost 67-30 to
Union County (Lake Butler) in the final but Henry
carried 34 times for 329 yards to give him the record. Union County had
won 40 straight games and had allowed just 42 points in 13 games.
4,495 — Tyler Ebell, Ventura (Calif.), 2000
After
Hall's record stood for 43 seasons, Henry's record fell in just four.
The first mention of Ebell and Henry's record came on Nov. 4 when
Ebell rushed for 368 yards (his eighth 300-yard game of the season) in a
win over
Santa Barbara to go over 3,000 yards in
Ventura's ninth game.
Thus the countdown began in Ebell's march
toward Henry's record. Ebell went up to 3,901 yards in Ventura's second
playoff game and newspapers and ESPN pointed toward Ebell breaking the
record against
Lompoc. Needing 187 yards, Ebell ran for 319 to break
Henry's record.
The 278 yards Ebell had in Ventura's 35-14 win
over
Arroyo Grande in the Southern Section Division IV final upped his
record to 4,495 yards.
4,756 yards — John Giannantonio, Netcong, 2001 (or 1950)
According to a 2006 article in the Star-Ledger, Giannantonio's son-in-law Geoff Adams contacted Huff and submitted Giannantonio's total of 4,756 yards. Since then, multiple record books have listed Giannantonio's total as the all-time record.
We have pointed out before that Giannantonio's yardage total is all-purpose yardage and it said as much in the 2006 Star-Ledger article. While MaxPreps at one time listed the 4,756 yards as a national record, the evidence points otherwise and MaxPreps no longer recognizes that total.
4,704 yards - Dominick Bragalone, South Williamsport (Pa.), 2014
When Bragalone rushed for 351 yards in his final game against
Bishop Guilfoyle (Altoona) to surpass Ebell, there was no mention of it in any of the local newspapers. In fact, Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that Bragalone finished second all-time behind Giannantonio. White and PA Football News listed Bragalone with 4,717 yards. However statistics sent to MaxPreps at that time list Bragalone with 4,704 yards.
Since MaxPreps no longer recognizes Giannantonio as the record holder for single-season rushing yardage, Bragalone received recognition for the No. 1 spot.
At least until last Friday.
4,768 yards - Myles McLaughlin, Knox (Ind.), 2025
With 372 yards in a 28-21 win over
Angola in the Indiana 3A playoffs, McLaughlin passed Ebell and Bragalone (and Giannantonio) on the national single-season rushing list. MaxPreps was on hand to film and document the
historic moment.
McLaughlin has at least one more game, perhaps two, to add to his total. Regardless, McLaughlin becomes just the sixth (or seventh) runner to hold the record.
