Indiana sensation
Myles McLaughlin has dominated the high school football spotlight in recent weeks with his chase of multiple national records, but a darkhorse candidate has emerged to break the single-season scoring mark the
Knox (Ind.) quarterback was chasing.
McLaughlin's season came to an end last week with a 35-0 loss to
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in the Indiana Class 3A semifinals. Needing just a touchdown to break the national record of 453 points held by fellow Hoosier Brett Law of
Sheridan, McLaughlin didn't score and was held to under 100 yards rushing for the first time since his sophomore year.
Kaegan Ash of
Mt. Enterprise (Texas) has closed to within 19 points of Law's record after scoring four touchdowns and four two-point conversions in his team's 58-30 playoff win over
Chilton. He has 434 points on 63 touchdowns and 27 two-point conversions.
Ash is also just 18 points from breaking the Texas single-season record of 451 points established by Joseph Sadler of
Devine (Texas) in 2011.
The four touchdowns was a rather quiet night for Ash, who has more than four touchdowns seven times during the season with a high of nine touchdowns and 56 points in a 60-42 win over
Overton. He also had eight touchdowns and 56 points in a 68-50 win over
Grapeland.
Ash has already tied one Texas state record with his 599-yard rushing effort against Overton. That total tied the mark of Rudy Rudison of Marian Christian (Houston) in 1978 and Matt Gadek of
McKinney in 2017.
With potentially four more games in the playoffs for Ash, he could also threaten Ken Hall's single-season rushing total of 4,045 yards. Ash has 3,373 yards on just 188 carries, which puts him in fourth among current leading rushers in the state.
Ash will have to fend off
John Hebert of
Strake Jesuit (Houston), who moved ahead of Ash among state rushing leaders last week after gaining 359 yards in a 50-35 playoff win over Lamar. With 3,541 yards on the season, Hebert is one yard away from equaling his state-leading total from 2024.
Hebert moved ahead of
Christian Villarreal of
Ozona, who was seen as a good bet to break Hall's record prior to the start of the playoffs. However Ozona lost its playoff opener to
Anson and Villareal finished with 3,505 yards, the 14th-best total in Texas history.
Both Hebert and Ash trail
Ernie Powers of
Franklin (El Paso), who saw his season come to an end with a 62-42 playoff loss to
Midland Legacy (Midland) despite 401 yards rushing. Powers' 3,742 yards rank fifth all-time in state history.
McLaughlin's national record of 4,798 yards (unofficial) appears safe from assault by Hebert and Ash, who would each need to average over 300 yards per game over four games to break the mark.
In addition to McLaughlin, Ash and Hebert, several other players have broken state records in recent weeks:
Kingston Allen of
Notre Dame Academy (Green Bay) broke the state single season rushing record in Wisconsin after rushing for 231 yards in a 28-14 playoff loss to
West De Pere (De Pere). His 3,436 yards breaks the previous mark of 3,422 yards by Adrian Davis of
St. Joseph (Kenosha) in 2001.
Brady Jay of
Moses Lake (Wash.) threw six touchdown passes in a 76-41 playoff loss to
Lake Stevens, giving him a national-best 72 touchdown passes for the year. Jay's total breaks the previous state record of 67 by current New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore during his senior year at
Prosser in 2006.
Sabby Meassick of
Tohopekaliga (Kissimmee, Fla.) had his season end two weeks ago but he finished as the career record holder in Florida for pass completions with 1,167 and attempts with 1,838. The attempts total ranks third in national history. Meassick just missed the single-season record for attempts with 469, finishing two back of Jim Jordan's record of 471 while at
Leon (Tallahassee, Fla.) in 1975.
Evan O'Leary of
Lehman Catholic (Sidney, Ohio) finished his season with a loss to
Marion Local (Maria Stein) on Nov. 7. His 2,458 yards receiving breaks the Ohio single-season mark of 2,342 yards by Justin Sawmiller of
Kenton. O'Leary's total ranks fourth on the all-time national list.
Jayden Petit of
Neumann (Naples, Fla.) broke a state record earlier this year with six touchdown receptions in a 54-0 win over First Baptist Academy. The previous record was five.
