Teegan Haines of
McPherson (Kan.) intercepted five passes, returning two of them for touchdowns, in a playoff win over Buhler last week, providing one of the more spectacular defensive performances of the high school football season.
Haines' multi-interception performance, and others like it, are very rare and totally unpredictable but incredibly fascinating and thrilling. Consider that Haines did not have a single interception during the regular season before coming up with five in a single game.
While Haines' performance falls short of making the MaxPreps National High School Record Book's newest list of most interceptions in a single game, his effort is indicative of the type of amazing performances found on the list.
The record for most interceptions by a player in a single game is seven, held by four players. According to Pa. Football News, Jack Roberts of
Bethel Park (Pa.) set the record in 1942. The Minnesota State High School League record book notes that Paul Jensen of
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (Lake Crystal, Minn.) tied the record with seven in 1970.
Donald Moore of
Splendora (Texas), who at one time held the national record for interceptions in a career with 59, had seven of those picks in one game as a sophomore in 1977. Finally, Gabe Lumas of
Kingman (Ariz.) was the most recent to tie the record with seven picks in 2011.
Ironically, all four of those seven-pick performances were tied for third in the National Federation of High Schools record book. For several decades, Ken Golin of
Broome (Spartanburg, S.C.) was listed in the record book with nine interceptions. Except that there was no Ken Golin and he never intercepted nine passes.
Ken Bolin did play for Broome and he did have nine "receptions" in a single game in 1981 that was listed as a playoff record in South Carolina. Somehow Bolin became Golin and receptions became interceptions and the record stood for nearly 40 years. The NFHS recently took the entry out of its record book.
Another entry from the NFHS record book had Glenn Rogers of
Sandpoint (Idaho) picking off eight passes in a game against
Bonners Ferry (Idaho) in 1928. Rogers, however, had only three interceptions in the game as Sandpoint had eight interceptions as a team. Like the Golin entry, Glenn Rogers has also been taken out of the NFHS record book.
The MaxPreps record book also lists 17 players with at least six interceptions. Among the more interesting entries is that of Bill Cubit of Sharon Hill (Pa.).
In a game against Collingdale in December of 1970, Cubit had one of his best games and worst games on the same night. As the team's quarterback, Cubit threw five interceptions. As a defensive back he did one better, however, picking off six passes including four in one quarter.
An all-around athlete, Cubit went on to coach at the college and high school level for over 45 years, including at the University of Illinois.
