Ten 10 MaxPreps stories from fall of 2012

Pick a story, any story.

The fall was full with meaty, newsworthy, fun, heartwarming and heartbreaking ones. Here are 10 of the best of what we told in the fall of 2012, with the first few paragraphs of each story as the text. You can click at the end of each to read the entire individual stories.

1. Derrick Henry breaks national career rushing record

Overload right, 24 blast. That was the play call for Derrick Henry to secure a first down for Yulee (Fla.) High School early in the second quarter Friday night.

Turned out, it was the call and the play that secured history.

For 59 years, hundreds of thousands of prep running backs from every corner of the country have tried to run down Sugarland, Texas legend Ken Hall and finally after the 1,257th carry of his high school career, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior manchild they call "Shocka" passed him.

In vintage Henry form, the Alabama recruit broke past two perfectly-positioned would be tacklers, stiff-armed another and sprinted the final 40 yards untouched completing a 52-yard touchdown run with 11 minutes, 16 seconds left in the second quarter that broke the national career rushing yardage record during a 41-26 Florida 4A first-round playoff win Friday night.

At 7:46 p.m., on a cool and breezy 50-degree night on the Northern tip of Florida, just outside of Jacksonville, 11 miles south of the Georgia border, 839 miles east of Sugarland, and once a stratosphere from reality, a new rushing king was crowned. Hall's magical landmark total of 11,232 yards set from 1950 to 1953 went poof.

When asked what went through his mind when he crossed the goal line, Henry, a thoughtful, humble sort, took a big giant sigh.

"It's over," said Henry after the game while surrounded by reporters, fans, friends and family. "I was happy to get it and to get a little rest. But I knew I had to get out there and help my teammates win a game."

Rest of story