J.T. Curtis of
John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.) is expected to surpass the late John McKissick of
Summerville (S.C.) sometime in the next month for the all-time lead in high school football coaching wins. When that happens, Curtis will likely become just the sixth coach to hold the all-time wins mark since 1900.
Curtis began the season with 615 wins. While the Patriots (3-2) have lost their two most recent games, he is just two wins away (618) from tying McKissick with 620 all-time wins.
McKissick's reign as the all-time coaching wins leader has lasted since 1992 when he won his 395th game to pass Gordon Wood of Texas. Wood, who coached at several schools during his career and finished up at
Brownwood, ended his career in 1985 with 394 wins.
Wood surpassed Pat Panek, a longtime coach in Denver, Colo., in 1978 when he won his 329th game. Panek retired after the 1976 season with 328 wins and he is believed to have held the record for seven seasons. Panek, who spent nearly 30 years at
Denver East, coached his final 10 seasons at
Bishop Machebeuf (Denver, Colo.). There, he is believed to have won his 306th career game in 1971.
J.T. Curtis prepares to lead his team on to the field prior to a September win over Jesuit. (Photo: Parker Waters)
Panek passed Bill Broderick, who was the first coach to win 300 games in a career and concluded his career with 305 wins in 1949. In a career that spanned stops at Rindge Tech (Cambridge, Mass.),
Haverhill (Mass.) and
Salem (Mass.), Broderick is believed to have held the top spot on the all-time wins list for 58 years, marking the longest stay at No. 1.
Henry Williams of
William Penn Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) coached from 1892-99 and had a record of 46-18-6 during that span. Since Penn Charter is known to have the most wins of any high school prior to 1900, Williams is believed to be the winningest coach at the turn of the century. Williams left the prep ranks to coach 22 years at the University of Minnesota, where he went 141-34-12.
Broderick began coaching at Rindge Tech in 1907 and won his 47th game in 1913 during his seventh season, his fourth at Haverhill. Broderick led the Hillies to a 10-0-1 record that year to up his personal coaching record to 54-14-10. He coached nine more seasons at Haverhill and 21 at Salem.
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Pender (Burgaw, N.C.) defeated
Hobbton (Newton Grove, N.C.) 106-83 last week, putting Hobbton on a unique list. The Wildcats' 83 points is tied for the third-highest point total in a loss.
DuBois (Pa.) scored 90 in a 107-90 loss to
Meadville (Pa.) in 2015 while
DeSoto Central (Southaven, Miss.) scored 86 in an 87-86 loss to
Olive Branch (Miss.), also in 2015.
Hobbton is tied with
Taylorsville (Utah), which lost to
Jordan (Sandy, Utah) in a 91-83 in 2016. The previous high in North Carolina was 80 points by
Harrells Christian Academy (Harrells) to
Davidson Day (Davidson) in a 104-80 loss in 2012.
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Mt. Diablo (Concord, Calif.) has seen its fortunes turn around this year thanks to the play of transfer running back
Herschel Turner Jr. With a 5-1 record this year, Mt. Diablo has already won as many games this year than it had in 19 of 20 previous seasons.
Turner is a big reason why. After playing at Freedom (Oakley, Calif.) the past two seasons, Turner has nearly doubled his output from his junior year (911) with 1,708 yards on just 85 carries in six games for Mt. Diablo. He also has 27 touchdowns for 170 points. Turner ranks ninth in the nation in rushing yardage and 13th in scoring.
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Another team that has turned things around behind a high-scoring running back is
Clyde-Savannah (Clyde, N.Y.). Since going 10-1 in 2017, the Golden Eagles have gone just 8-29 over the past five seasons.
Behind junior running back
Zymere Smith, Clyde-Savannah is 6-0 and averaging 57 points per game. Smith has scored 204 points in the six games while rushing for 1,553 yards. His scoring total ranks fourth in the nation.
Smith also has rushed for 15 two-point conversions. The national record for two-point conversion runs in a season is 51 by Will Knight of
Smyrna (Del.) in 2015.
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Javier Rice of
Asheville Christian Academy (Swannanoa, N.C.) set a state record for completions in a recent 48-20 loss to
Ashe County (West Jefferson, N.C.) when he completed 53 of 71 passes. His total broke the mark of Damien Ferguson of
Erwin (Asheville, N.C.), who had 49 in 2016.
Rice's record lasted just one week, however. He broke his own record with 54 completions on 72 attempts in a 47-41 win over Wake Christian Academy. The 54 completions rank seventh all-time in the MaxPreps National High School Football Record Book for completions in a single game.
Meanwhile Rice's top target
Da'Merio Rice caught a state record 27 passes for 158 yards in the loss to Asheville County Academy. He came close to breaking that record against Wake Christian Academy, catching 26 passes for 180 yards.
The 53 receptions is the most catches in back-to-back games in high school history.
